Meetings magazine reached out to several business events professionals to find out what MICE trends they foresee will have the biggest impact on the local MICE events industry in 2024 and beyond. Eight trends were unpacked in the full article – here we share one of them, which is the growth of the African market.
Devi Paulsen-Abbott, CEO at Energy Capital & Power and chairperson of the Association of African Exhibition Organisers (AAXO), says, “Locally, in the African market, particularly given the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the rise in B2B exhibitions is poised to attract a greater number of businesses and investors to the region, ultimately driving economic growth.
“The outlook for the African exhibition sector in 2024 points to expansion, creativity, and heightened global recognition. This heightened recognition will foster greater collaboration.”
“The outlook for the African exhibition sector in 2024 points to expansion, creativity, and heightened global recognition.”
Validating this, Refilwe Mosia, MD of Naru Group, says she has found that clients are increasingly interested in destination Africa. She says, “The clients I work with are global NGOs and NPOs working in Africa. A big trend I am seeing is that they increasingly want to venture into the SADC region and are looking to hold more events in Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, etc. and are trying to see if they can have reach in these areas.
“I also have a lot of new clients who are interested in South Africa, global clients who are looking to host large international conferences. They are interested in the region, but also enjoy the fact that they can stay over and have a holiday – tying into the bleisure trend.”
To accommodate this, she is growing her partner and supplier network outside of South Africa’s borders; “We are becoming global citizens, and as such our partners and suppliers need to reflect this”, adding that these cross-border relationships have improved her business’s regional knowledge and credibility, making it easier to expand into new territories.
“We are seeing … an increase in long-term bookings for as far as 2025 which indicates confidence in the stability of the industry by role players.”
Refilwe Nchebisang, the acting marketing manager for the CSIR International Convention Centre, also identifies positive recovery and growth in the sector. She says, “We are comforted by the steady increase in multiple-day association conference bookings once again which is a testament to the premise on which the business event industry is founded, the need to address various societal and professional issues through face-to-face discourse and debate. Furthermore, we are seeing a return to pre-pandemic trends such as the inclusion of social activities in conference programmes, such as networking sessions and gala dinners, and an increase in long-term bookings for as far as 2025 which indicates confidence in the stability of the industry by role players.”
Click here for the full Event trends in 2024 report in Meetings magazine, and to discover all eight trends.
