Acting chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Tourism Company, Eddy Khosa, and chairman of the South African Association for the Conference Industry, Daryl Howes

RELATED LINKS: Top 20 conference centres JOHANNESBURG offers a wealth of conference centres in every area of the city, with facilities and prices to suit every price range from international conventions to private cocktail parties. Read more Joburg's status as conference hub grows JOHANNESBURG'S reputation as a world-class host of conferences is rapidly increasing. Read more Joburg makes impression at Tourism Indaba JOHANNESBURG made a huge impression at the prestigious Tourism Indaba in Durban. This is according to Eddy Khosa, the acting chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC). Read more City launches the Joburg Tourism Company THE establishment of tourism as a key economic sector for Johannesburg is the key goal of the Johannesburg Tourism Company, officially launched by Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo on Tuesday night. Read more New plan for selling Joburg to tourists A SPECIALIST non-profit company has been formed by the City of Johannesburg to co-ordinate tourism and sell Johannesburg as a single product. Read more Tourism workshops to produce plan for Joburg A COMPREHENSIVE sales and marketing plan to expand tourism in Johannesburg is at present being formulated through a series of workshops being held by the City and the private sector. Read more

Joburg to host conference industry JOHANNESBURG is preparing to host the national conference industry convention, which offers opportunities to show off the city's assets to the business tourist. May 30, 2005 By Bafana Nzimande ABOUT 300 delegates are expected to converge on Johannesburg in July to attend the South African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) national convention. Eddy Khosa, the acting chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Tourism Company and the chairman of the association's conference committee, last week launched the convention to the media, in Sandton. He said this year's conference was aimed at developing the industry in the country and enticing more tourists to Johannesburg. "South Africa is very new to business tourism, but in a very short period it has made huge strides in securing a more favourable position in the conference market." The association's meeting would show off the progress there has been in the country's conference industry over the past few years. The gathering will run from Sunday, 24 July to Tuesday, 26 July at the Sandton Convention Centre. It will also deal with business tourism issues, to further position South Africa and Johannesburg among the best conference venues in the world. "Our conference industry is entering a critical and challenging phase, hence we need to improve [standards of] professionalism within our industry, and promote pride and ethical standards throughout the industry," Khosa said. Business tourism "Putting yourself at the forefront of business tourism" is the theme of the event, which will compromise of business tourism-related seminars, exhibitions and hands-on workshops focusing on a variety of topics such as tax risk management, health and safety regulations, the effect of information technology on the events industry and black economic empowerment, among other topics. Daryl Howes, the SAACI conference chairman, said, "This year's event will be a mixture of education, motivation and entertainment, all aimed at strengthening our country's business tourism." Business tourism was one of the fastest growing industries in the country, contributing almost R20-billion to South Africa's economy. It also sustained nearly 260 000 jobs, Howes said. It contributed R6-billion a year to the country's salaries, leading this year's conference to be aimed at attracting more corporate event organisers who were not members of SAACI. "We want to increase the number of accredited professionals in business tourism, professionals who can help their organisations stage sensational events that will attract more foreign tourists," Howes said. SAACI The SAACI is a section 21 company aimed at maintaining and improving the standards of competence and professionalism in the local conference industry. It has more than 600 members representing a variety of sectors within the industry, like professional conference organisers and conference venues, among related fields. Howes said registration for the national conference could be done on the conference's website. Khosa said the Johannesburg Tourism Company was "fully behind this conference and we are all very excited that it will be hosted in Johannesburg, the best city in the country". Delegates will see more of Joburg than only the Sandton Convention Centre; they will visit the World of Beer in Newton and Constitutional Hill in Braamfontein for cocktail sessions, and all entertainment activities will be held at Vodaworld in Midrand. The SAACI national conference would add value to every delegate attending the event, Khosa said. For more information about the SAACI Conference 2005, call 011 463 6372 or click here. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za