As the 17th annual Meetings Africa 2023 kicked off in Sandton on Tuesday, February 28, the City of Johannesburg was optimistic that its efforts to draw increased MICE business to the city will pay off.
Nomoya Mnisi, MMC for Economic Development at the City of Johannesburg, said: “Needless to say, we’ve weathered an unpredictable two years of setbacks and surprises delivered via the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is an immense feeling of enthusiasm and hopefulness that we’re through the worst phase.”
According to Mnisi, Euromonitor International highlighted that in 2019 Johannesburg welcomed 4,2 million visitors per annum. This dropped dramatically to just 1,3 million in 2020. In 2021, Johannesburg recorded just over two million arrivals, a welcome boost towards sector recovery.
“As far as resuming efforts to secure business events and MICE activities, throughout the past year the Joburg Tourism Convention Bureau team has had constructive engagements with industry peers, colleagues and associates at national, provincial and local level in an attempt to maximise business tourism opportunities through collaboration,” Mnisi pointed out.
Major events
This has borne fruit and the Joburg Tourism Convention Bureau successfully hosted the AI EXPO at the Sandton Convention Centre in September 2022. The team ended the year on a high, by supporting a handful of events including the Black Management Forum Annual Policy Conference 2022, along with the 26th World Associations for Small & Medium Enterprises.
“We kicked off 2023 by supporting the International of Federation of Information Technology, Travel and Tourism ENTER23 e-Tourism Conference in January,” said Mnisi.
Amongst many business events that will be hosted in Johannesburg in 2023, Johannesburg Convention Bureau is proud to be partnering with the University of Johannesburg to host the Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research from June 5-9.
Integral to the city’s tourism strategy is unlocking the potential of business tourism as a catalytic sub-sector, alongside seven other identified niche tourism areas to stimulate economic growth.
Collaboration
Mnisi said she had been encouraged that the past year brought the city good news in terms of accolades, with Johannesburg achieving third place (behind Cairo and Algiers and ahead of Cape Town at number 6), as one of Africa’s Top Business Cities, according to the Global Business Cities Index for 2022.
As a result, Joburg aimed to work with other partners to improve its number 7 International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Africa rating, she said.
“Furthermore, the IMEX-MPI-MCI Future Leaders Forum 2023, a youth-focused business events forum, is a significant event we’ll be hosting, as Joburg Tourism Company embarks on a partnership with business events association, SAACI, to enable youth and SMMEs to participate in mainstream business events activities,” Mnisi highlighted.
