Joburg Tourism and the City’s Department of Economic Development are joining forces to promote the City from both a tourism investment and a leisure destination perspective at two marketing platforms in Durban in early May.
They will be undertaking brand activations at the Hotel Investment Conference Africa [HICA], taking place at the Elangeni Hotel from 8 to 10 May, followed by the annual Tourism Indaba, to be held at the Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre from 11 to 14 May.
Guided by the City’s GDS 2040 economic development objectives, Joburg Tourism’s participation at the seventh HICA includes showcasing Joburg as a destination for tourism investment. The team will also be using the opportunity to promote the Department of Economic Development’s inaugural Buy, Sell, Invest & Visit Johannesburg initiative, set to take place in June and July 2013.
“The city’s leadership remains focused on positioning Joburg not only as the continent’s leading business hub and vibrant all year round leisure and lifestyle destination, but also as offering plenty of opportunities as a base for tourism investments,” says Councillor Ruby Mathang, MMC for Economic Development.
“The Lanseria Precinct and the Midrand Business District have the potential to develop into major tourist hubs and opportunities for tourism investments exist in these areas. Significant projects encompass the development of world class accommodation facilities, state-of-the-art meeting venues and professional hospitality services, including transport, training, entertainment, gambling and cuisine.”
INDABA – 11 – 14 MAY 2013
The Tourism Indaba is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three “not to be missed” events of its kind on the global travel trade calendar.
Joburg Tourism will once again be participating in this significant annual event, in line with its strategy to improve the tourism trade’s knowledge and understanding of Joburg’s offerings, encouraging the inclusion of Joburg on travel itineraries, not only as a stop over or portal, but as a multi-faceted destination, which offers travelers a broad selection of sites, attractions and activities to experience and enjoy – and deserving of inclusion in both business and leisure itineraries.
“Aside from the excellent intra-industry networking which is facilitated by a forum like Indaba, we utilize this platform to identify additional marketing opportunities, initiate discussions and engage in joint marketing agreements or initiatives with industry partners,” says Phelisa Mangcu, Acting CEO, Joburg Tourism.
As the tourism arrival figures recently released by the National Department of Tourism indicate, South Africa continues to enjoy an above average growth rate (10.2% as opposed to the global average of 4%) and Johannesburg is certainly benefiting from this. Visitor arrivals continue increasing year on year and the City’s leadership remains committed to enabling and facilitating ongoing growth and development in this sector.
As cited in the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index in June 2012, it was predicted that Johannesburg would be the second most visited destination city in Africa, with a projected 2.5 million international visitors expected to enter the city in 2012. In addition, international visitors wereprojected to spend more while visiting Johannesburg than any other destination city on the continent, with US$3.3 billion estimated to be injected into the city during 2012, an increase of 8.1% on 2011’s figures.
