Sun City is the crown jewel among Sun International’s portfolio of gems. Meetings talks to GM Brett Hoppé about the resort’s exciting conferencing prospects.
A visit to Sun City is always highly anticipated by both business and leisure tourists, and the resort’s convention centre continues to thrive as it grows its share of the meetings market thanks to ongoing upgrades and improvements. Before the pandemic, Sun City spent R150 million on modernising its business infrastructure; this is in addition to the R1 billion spent a few years prior. These investments have paid off, and the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa has renewed the Sun City Convention Centre’s five-star grading for 2024/25.
Sun City is currently tracking ahead of 2024 eventing figures by 15%, and major events and conferences are booked two years in advance. “Our business facilities consist of 27 conference rooms, three convention centres, two
auditoriums and multiple breakaway rooms. Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions hold enormous potential, and business tourism to Sun City also contributes to supporting the local economy of the North West province,” Brett Hoppé, GM of Sun City, tells Meetings. “We continue to invest significantly in expanding and upgrading our business and conference facilities to meet the demands of the exacting customers who look to Sun City as a global leader in conference and exhibitions hosting,” he adds.
Brett highlights how the resort keeps up with global hospitality trends – evident in the construction of its padel facility. “Padel has swept the globe, and now, conference delegates at Sun City can dominate the court on one of four padel courts. This is just another way in which Sun City continues to remain relevant, by adding what people want to our endless list of entertainment and sporting options which includes two famous golf courses, the Valley of Waves, jet skiing and other water sports and game drives in the neighbouring Pilanesberg National Park, as well as the casino and nightclub,” he says.
Business on the up
Growth from Sun City’s conferencing division is primarily driven by corporate and association business, and lifestyle and sports events. Revenue in 2024 was aided by four very large international conferences – two from Brazil, one from the United Kingdom and another from Spain. “As we continue to grow the business it allows us to ensure optimal service levels for our business delegates and increases our contributions to employment, skills development and socio-economic growth for our surrounding communities,” said Brett. A prime example is the Nedbank Golf Challenge, where Sun City employs 400 local staff for the month of December to cater for visitor numbers to the annual sports event.
It just keeps getting better
With infrastructure improvements, the total square meterage space for the convention centre area, which includes the Sun Park and The Greenhouse, is 16,114sqm. Key changes include the Hall of Fame, which has now become Motlhape, a meeting cluster comprised of two new conference venues, Sefudi and Mogolodi, as well as a pre-exhibition area that exudes natural light and a glimpse of Sun Central. Sefudi can accommodate up to174 people in cinema or cocktail style, and 110 people for a gala event or schoolroom seating. Mogolodi can accommodate up to 140 people in cinema or cocktail, 130 for gala events or 120 in schoolroom seating.
The Greenhouse and Sun Park are unique outdoor venues, which host sports events such as prize-giving ceremonies, major screenings, large conventions, music shows and other events. Sun City is gearing up to host even more events and local and international artists during 2025. The Superbowl is famed and equipped to host top local and international artists, and it is well-appointed to host concerts, product launches, and corporate events with a large number of attendees. “Large shows require extensive rigging, lighting and sound but our large venues are fully equipped to supply and support all these requirements. We are also geared up for host visiting artists, with no additions to equipment rentals,” said Brett.
Greener is world-class
Sun City is living up to its name in a bid to one day achieve an aggregate share of greener energy, courtesy of a solar investment worth more than R26 million to date. Since mid-2023, the resort has completed the first two phases of its solar project, starting with panel installations on the Sun Central roof. This phase, which ensured non-disruptive conferencing, has already seen a financial saving of more than R3.1 million for the period July 2023 to May 2024.
Brett emphasised that the rollout of the panels formed part of a broader, phased environmental strategy. “Sun City is an enormous property with many moving parts to power up, including conferencing. Our ground-breaking project not only reduces our resort’s demand and consumption of energy, but also meets Sun International’s broader environmental commitments. “Sun City is truly an all-encompassing conference and events venue which sets the benchmark for business travel and leaves a lasting impression on delegates.”
Sun City’s Inspired Venues
When you host an event at Sun City, you can choose from an array of entertainment and activity-based experiences before, during or after your conference. The resort has categorised its indoor and outdoor spaces under four themes:
Earth
Drawing from the natural surrounds of Sun City, the resort’s ‘Earth’ venues – Baobab Outlook, The Maze of the Lost City and Crocodile Lounge – each have their own African-inspired look and feel.
Air
Sun City’s ‘Air’ venues are the King Tower, Elephant Atrium, Elephant Courtyard and The Gazebo. These light, bright spaces are most typically booked for intimate occasions and cocktail parties.
Water
Host your delegates at any of Sun City’s water-inspired venues, which are ideal for summer soirees and outdoor corporate events. These include the Valley of the Waves, Monkey Plaza, The Greenhouse, The Palace Pool Deck, Sun City Hotel Pool Deck, and Cabanas Picnic Lawn.
Fire
The Botsalanong and Letsatsing bomas, The Shebeen and The Amphitheatre are Sun City’s ‘Fire’ venues, which are great for relaxed, outdoor banquets. These are also well-suited for large group of delegates and smaller, more intimate events.
Sun International gains
Sun International’s resilience was made clear in its June 2024 interim results announcement. Income grew by 5%, which was largely owing to its gaming division. However, hospitality is also showing impressive growth. “Gaming income, which constitutes 77.4% of the group’s total income, demonstrated sustained growth, increasing by 3.4%. Casino income at the group’s four largest urban casinos grew by 2.2% while the smaller regional casino growth remained challenging. Sunbet continued its phenomenal growth trajectory with income surging by 71.8% surpassing once again its aggressive growth targets. Hospitality income (excluding casino income) from our resorts and hotels exhibited exceptional growth, increasing by 12.3%. Sun Slots income declined by 4.3% to R686 million compared to the prior period, and management has launched a range of initiatives to address this decline. Building on our strong performance in the first half of the year, we remain committed to delivering value to our stakeholders through strategic initiatives and operational excellence,” said the group.
