It is often mentioned by the MICE Academy that professions should stick to their professions and not digress into other professions that are not a part of their core business. For example, tourism folk should undertake tourism issues not conference programme management.
SATSA (South Africa Tourism Services Association) broke the mould with the resuscitation of their annual conference in early August at Spier. The conference report backs have been nothing short of heaped praise for more-than-just a networking gathering of tourism decision-makers.
According to the majority of the feedback, the SATSA 2014 conference attended by members and non-members was spot on in the objectives and in particular the outcomes.
It is interesting to note some of the reasons for the success which other member trade associations should heed:
- As far back as late 2013 the SATSA CEO put forward the concept of a conference conversation ‘in-the-round’. With topics which are essential to their member’s progress – hence adding reat targeted value – the conference programme unfolded over the two days. In other words SATSA remained true to their initial concept;
- Due to the type of ‘in-the-round’ format, high participation was the order of the day. This in turn allowed high-value feed-back for SATSA – while in tandem – the audience had exceptional opportunity to voice their opinions and indeed inputs from their particular perspective;
- Conferences that have high participation embedded within the programme, invariably please the delegation while at the same time allow actions to be taken on conference completion;
- The fee structure was in keeping with encouraging the small tourism business owner to register as well as justify the additional costs of transport and accommodation;
- Most importantly – the majority of the participants especially the attending members are in decision-making positions within their own organisations. Therefore the outcomes did not need clarifying by a higher power back at the office with all the misinterpretations that can emanate from questionable word-of-mouth recommendations.
SATSA is a formidable trade association with over 900 company members and growing applications on a monthly basis. With a loyal personnel complement of over eight staff – the tourism industry will be able to tackle the pressing issues through their 2014 conference outcomes. Well done David Frost – the scene is set for an equally successful 2015 SATSA conference.
