The Cape Town CBD. CREDIT: Henk Kruger The Cape Town CBD. CREDIT: Henk Kruger
The Western Cape’s official tourism trade and investment promotion agency said the vote by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) meant the city was now in the top 40 destinations for business tourism in the world. Cape Town climbed 15 places in the global rankings, from 54th place in 2015 to 39th place, in 2016.
A total of 62 meetings took place in Cape Town during the year, representing mainly medical sciences, education and the technology sector, Wesgro said. An additional 12 international meetings took place in the nearby town of Stellenbosch.
Wesgro said the ICCA, a prominent international meetings organisation with more than 850 members across 80 countries, “represents the global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry”.
The Mother City won the award ahead of other contenders, including Johannesburg, Marrakech, Nairobi and even Durban, which just last week hosted the World Economic Forum’s Africa meeting.
The Cape Town and Western Cape Convention Bureau, a strategic division of Wesgro that promotes the Cape as a premier business events destination, has been voted Best Convention Bureau by the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry for the past two years. In the past financial year, the bureau secured 33 new bids with an estimated delegate attendance of 28,000 and an estimated economic impact of R424 million.
Business tourism events are an important economic contributor and job creator for the region, Wesgro said. Over the past six years the estimated economic impact of the conference bids secured by the bureau exceeded R1.5 billion.
Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said retaining the number one spot was a concerted effort between stakeholders and partners within the industry.
“We’re incredibly proud of our ICCA ranking and will work hard to maximise this momentum,” he said.
The Western Cape’s Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde added: “Being ranked as Africa’s top business tourism destination is excellent news for our region … We know conferences have a significant economic impact, driving growth and creating jobs for residents.”
Julie-May Ellingson, chief executive officer of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, said the CTICC was proud of the key role it had played, along with its partners in Cape Town’s rise up the rankings.
“Cape Town has risen above competitive cities such as Sydney, Dubai, Nairobi, Johannesburg and Durban in these rankings and its continued popularity demonstrates that we can deliver top class conferences on a global scale,” she said.