The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) has confirmed dates for the 7th Hotel Investment Conference Africa (HICA). HICA 2013 will take place in the time slot ahead of the annual Tourism Indaba, on 9 and 10 May in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
HICA is an established business to business networking platform focused on showcasing Southern Africa as a viable investment destination in the hotel and hospitality sector. It is an event which is also dedicated to improving the knowledge-base within the region in terms of building and operating hotel and hospitality facilities. The target audience is local and international investors, hospitality property developers, owners and operators and government leaders and officials operating in the tourism space. The conference is convened by the TBCSA and hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) and the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority (TKZN).
TBCSA Chief Executive Officer, Mmatati Ramawela said post the inaugural South African Travel and Tourism Industry Conference (SATTIC) 2012, participation at HICA 2013 is a must for businesses wanting to take forward the discussions on how to improve the attractiveness of Southern Africa as a tourist destination amidst increasing competition from countries such as Morocco, Kenya and Thailand. HICA is the platform for those seeking investment opportunities and knowledge about operating in the sector especially in the current economic climate. Post SATTIC 2012 it is now time to focus on the key resolutions from the conference, one of them being on how we can improve and diversify our tourism product offering by being more innovative doing things differently. Considering that the hotel industry is at the centre of the tourism value chain, it goes without saying that the discussion on innovation and doing things differently should proceed to HICA she said.
Ramawela added that the viability of ideas such as the development of new coastal resorts or holiday camps for the lower-end of the market (as suggested at the SATTIC conference) should be explored further and HICA is the correct platform for these discussions to take place.
The two-day conference comprise of a combination of plenary and breakaway sessions and will include popular topics such as the Hotel Performance Barometer from a global and Southern African perspective to update delegates on the state of the industry; the Leaders Panel on the Safari Industry, an update on the global and local macro economy and a developers session with special focus on key cities and countries with the region.
Delegates can look forward to the addition of new topics which are in tune with current industry developments. There will be discussions around increasing hotel occupancies, the value of brands; incentives for implementing responsible tourism practices and discussions on how to structure hotel deals and finances, just to mention a few. We are currently finalising the topics and conference programme to be published on the HICA 2013 website. Please look out for more information on conference programme, speakers and registration costs from mid-October concluded Ramawela.
