By Friday Nwosu
South African Tourism (SAT), has announced that the 2017 Indaba will be hosted by the city of Durban and province of kwaZulu Natal from the 6-8 of May. It said the Meetings Africa will be hosted by the city of Johannesburg and the Gauteng province from the 28 of February to 1 March 2017.
In a statement from SAT, the agency said the objective for both platforms is to create market access and business growth for African tourism products and services.
It stated that a Rapid Review on Indaba conducted in 2014 investigated the role of Indaba and suggested ways in which to enhance the offering moving forward adding that this included execution strategies to elevate the trade show exhibition and pairing with a strategic partner was one of the options suggested.
SA Tourism subsequently issued an “Expression of Interest” where firms were invited to submit proposals, in line with a set criteria, to demonstrate their suitability as a possible strategic partner. SA Tourism further issued a technical specification to shortlisted bidders.
“Following great deliberation, SA Tourism has concluded that the strategic partnership model is not the best option to elevate Indaba and Meetings Africa at the present. Therefore SA Tourism confirms that, through its newly established Exhibition and Strategic Events division, its leading marketing and communications agency, and its exhibitions management agency SA Tourism will deliver Indaba and Meetings Africa into the future.”
“We continue to rely on our innovative and passionate tourism industry to support our efforts to make Indaba and Meetings Africa successful, world class events.”
