30 June 2003
Cape Town's state-of-the-art international convention centre has opened its doors, and is already raking in business, with 135 bookings, over 100 of these international conferences, already secured.
Durban put itself on the map with its international convention centre, while the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg was seen around the world when it hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.
Now, South Africa's premier tourism city has its own showcase convention centre - and the boost to the city's economy, and the country's place in world conference rankings, is expected to be huge.
Officially launched on 28 June 2003, the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) offers a purpose-built, flexible facility with 10 000m² of dedicated exhibition space, two raked fixed-seating auditoria for 1 500 and 600 delegates, a 2 000m² grand ballroom with magnificent city views, and over 33 break-out rooms.
Located on Cape Town’s northern foreshore, beneath Table Mountain, the centre offers event organisers a state-of-the-art facility with high-tech infrastructure. A deluxe 500-room ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel will also be integrated with the centre, which allows easy access to recreational facilities, restaurants and cultural attractions, in particular the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Other well-known tourist destinations can be reached within an hour.
Research by the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business projects that the Centre will create about 47 000 new jobs and contribute R25-billion to South Africa's gross domestic product over a period of 10 years.
Built at a cost of about R582-million, the centre is owned by the Cape Town International Convention Centre Company (Convenco), which was established by the Western Cape provincial government in 1999.
CTICC managing director Dirk Elzinga says the international bookings already secured, based on an estimated daily delegate spend of €200, means that these conferences will generate an estimated spend of almost €130-million (R1.3-billion). "This is a staggering figure, and I am sure it is quite unprecedented for a newly established meeting destination such as Cape Town", Elzinga said.
"We expect Cape Town, which is currently ranked in the International Congress and Convention Association's top 30 list of most popular convention destinations in the world, to soar into the top 10 list within 10 years of the CTICC's opening."
The CTICC's 10 000m² of exhibition space is attracting serious interest from the organisers of consumer shows, trade fairs, home-decoration and lifestyle shows, and from the fishing, computer and building industries. Its versatility extends beyond that, however, and bookings have already been made for weddings, a barmitzvah and other social events.
Apart from a number of established exhibitions, the centre has also drawn some new ones, including the Cape Extravaganza Expo, BEQSA, Face the Music, SA Clothes Show and the Cape Flower Show.
The first two months of business will feature, among others, the KFM 94.5 Outdoor Adventure Expo, the Western Cape Tourism Showcase, Cape Town Fashion Week, the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry Convention, the International Imbizo for Office Professionals, and the Wine Farmers and Fruit Growers Exhibition.
November will see the World Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition coming to Cape Town, blowing in an expected 1 000 delegates from over 50 countries.
The centre has been designed to bring all its facilities, including a hotel, under one giant roof. The technology is state-of-the-art, and the venues are flexible - the ground floor exhibition space can easily be broken up into smaller venues for banquets and conferencing, and 20 of the breakout rooms can be configured to different sizes
The kitchen facilities will be the largest and most advanced in the Western Cape, and all venues accessible without disturbing the flow of traffic.
The list of services is equally impressive, covering audio-visual conferencing, registrations, security, messengers, first aid, and business, hotel and cleaning services. Local vendors include professional conference organisers, decorators, electricians, printers, musicians, photographers, stenographers, translators, hostesses, tour and entertainment guides, stand builders, forwarding agents and car rental agents.
Elzinga says it is a misperception that the centre is too exclusive. "The CTICC offers an affordable price level for the local market ... With all its flexibility and add-ons, the CTICC is incomparable to any other centre in Cape Town, and the pricing structure is very attractive to both the local and international market."
He says the centre aims to become a public space, and encouraged the people of Cape Town to "make it their own – both in terms of bookings, but also to simply walk around and visit the building, which has to a large extent been made possible by the ratepayers of the Western Cape."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
