Scaling a Proven Model for South Africa’s Next Business Events Hub
A decade ago, when Century City Conference Centre and Hotels opened its doors in Century City, Cape Town, the ambition was clear: to create a conference destination that combined world-class facilities with genuine hospitality. What followed was the steady emergence of one of Africa’s leading business events destinations, built not only on infrastructure, but on operational discipline, human connection, and a deeply local identity. Today, that success is entering a new chapter.
The R750 million Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel development in Gauteng marks a pivotal moment for the organisation behind Century City’s success. The project represents a strategic partnership between Attacq Limited and Rabie Property Group and signals the expansion of a proven hospitality model into one of South Africa’s most ambitious mixed-use precincts. For the business events industry, the move signals something larger than a new venue. It reflects the evolution of a trusted hospitality organisation from operating a single destination to managing a multi-city portfolio grounded in long-term thinking, disciplined execution, and a clear sense of purpose.
A Proven Model in Cape Town
The foundation for this expansion lies in the success of Century City Conference Centre and Hotels (CCCCH) in Cape Town. Since opening in 2016, the venue has established itself as one of the continent’s leading business events destinations, hosting thousands of conferences, exhibitions, corporate gatherings, and international meetings. But its reputation has been built on more than scale.
“From the beginning, we wanted to deliver genuine hospitality in a personalised way and bring a hotel-level experience into the conference environment,” explains Gary Koetser. That vision has remained consistent. What has evolved is the organisation surrounding it. Over the past decade, the Cape Town portfolio has grown to include multiple hotels, expanded conference facilities, and new hospitality offerings that support a wider range of guest experiences. Each development has
been approached with a careful balance between operational precision and human-centred hospitality.
Perhaps the most defining moment in the organisation’s first decade came during the Covid-19 pandemic. In hindsight, the crisis became a catalyst. “Resilience allows you to endure. Anti-fragility allows you to improve,” Koetser says. “The business that exists today is more diversified, more capable, and better prepared for future uncertainty than the one that entered that period.” This philosophy, designing organisations that improve under pressure, has become a defining feature of the group’s approach.
A Portfolio Begins to Emerge
As the Cape Town operation matured, it became increasingly clear that the organisation had moved beyond the scale of a single venue. Managing multiple assets across hospitality and conferencing required a broader structure, one capable of supporting growth while maintaining the standards that had built the brand’s reputation. The result is African Rain Collection, a portfolio brand designed to oversee conference and hospitality assets across multiple locations while preserving the operational culture developed over the past decade.
“The launch of African Rain Collection marks a natural evolution of what we have been building,” says Gary Koetser, Chief Executive Officer of African Rain Collection. “It reflects a deliberate shift from operating a single destination to stewarding a broader hospitality portfolio grounded in long-term thinking and disciplined execution.” The name reflects a spirit of renewal, growth and abundance, inspired by the rhythm, warmth and quiet confidence of Africa. Under this umbrella, the group will oversee assets in both Cape Town and Gauteng, with Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel becoming the first major development under the new portfolio.
Enter Waterfall City
Located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, Waterfall City has emerged as one of South Africa’s most sophisticated mixed-use developments. The precinct combines commercial offices, residential developments, retail centres, and logistics infrastructure within a highly connected urban ecosystem. Its master-planned design and long-term development horizon have positioned it as a hub for corporate activity and innovation. Designed as part of the broader Waterfall City precinct, the development reflects Attacq’s integrated approach to sustainability and long-term value creation into how its precincts are planned, developed and managed.
Opening January 2028, Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel will introduce:
16 flexible conference venues
Capacity for 2,000 delegates across the centre
A 1,350-seat plenary venue
A 180-room hotel and apartment offering
Open-air event spaces
A restaurant, wellness facilities, spa, gym and swimming pool
Every aspect of the facility has been designed with operational efficiency and guest experience in mind, reflecting the organisation’s focus on performance and flow at scale. Importantly, the project will be operated by the same management team responsible for the success of Century City Conference Centre and Hotels. This continuity ensures that the operational culture, standards, and expertise developed over the past decade will carry directly into the new venue.
Designed for the Future of Business Events
Beyond scale and infrastructure, the development reflects broader shifts shaping the global business events industry. Corporate clients increasingly demand environments that combine advanced technology, operational reliability, and seamless guest experiences. Koetser describes this trend as the move toward “frictionless, intelligent environments.” In such spaces, technology anticipates needs, complexity disappears from the guest journey, and operational teams are supported by systems that enable precision.
“The future of hospitality is not louder service,” he says. “It’s calmer excellence.”
This philosophy informs how the organisation invests in technology and training. Intelligent systems are integrated into operational processes, enabling teams to deliver highly coordinated experiences while maintaining a sense of simplicity for guests.
For Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel, that thinking extends into the architecture of the venue itself. The design prioritises connectivity, movement, and clarity—allowing events to operate smoothly at scale while maintaining the intimacy that
modern conferences increasingly require.
Sustainability as an Operational Discipline
Another defining feature of the organisation’s growth strategy is its approach to sustainability. In recent years, sustainability has become a central theme in the global meetings industry, but many initiatives remain symbolic rather than structural.
Koetser believes that genuine progress requires a more rigorous approach. “Sustainability should be structural, not symbolic,” he explains. “It needs to be embedded in how a business operates every day.”
This philosophy is already evident in Cape Town, where Century City Conference Centre recently achieved Green Key certification with a 100% audit score, becoming the first conference centre in Africa and the Southern Hemisphere to do so.
The certification reflects years of work integrating sustainability into operational systems—from energy management and waste reduction to procurement and supply chains. For the organisation, it is less a milestone than a baseline.
Beyond Buildings: Impact and Community
While the expansion into Gauteng represents a major strategic milestone, the organisation’s leadership emphasises that its impact extends far beyond physical infrastructure. Over the past decade, Century City Conference Centre and Hotels has hosted thousands of events that have brought investment, knowledge exchange, and economic activity into the region. These events create ripple effects across the hospitality ecosystem—supporting suppliers, service providers, small businesses,
and employment. Equally important is the organisation’s internal culture. The business has created long-term career pathways for its employees, invested in professional development, and supported team members through initiatives such as bursaries for accredited qualifications. The venue has also become an unexpected platform for cultural exposure.
Works by local artists are displayed throughout the conference centre, providing visibility to an audience of approximately 10,000 delegates each month. In this way, the venue operates not only as a commercial space, but as a bridge between
business events and local creative communities.
The Discipline Behind a Decade of Growth
Perhaps the most striking element of the organisation’s story is the consistency with which it has pursued its strategy. In an industry often driven by trends and novelty, the leadership team has deliberately focused on operational clarity and continuous reinvestment. “We’ve avoided novelty for its own sake,” says Koetser. “Relevance comes from discipline.” That discipline has taken the form of regular reinvestment in facilities, structured leadership development, and the creation of an internal operating framework that guides decision-making across the business.
In its tenth year, the organisation formalised this system into five integrated frameworks designed to align culture, accountability, and performance as the portfolio expands. The goal is simple: ensure that the organisation can grow in scale without diluting the quality and care that define its brand.
A New Chapter for South African Business Events
The launch of Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel represents more than a new venue for Gauteng. It signals the emergence of a South African hospitality group capable of operating conference and hotel assets across multiple cities while maintaining the same standards of operational excellence.
For the business events industry, it reflects confidence in the long-term future of conferencing in South Africa. For the team behind the project, it represents the continuation of a journey that began a decade ago in Cape Town.
“Our focus is not growth for growth’s sake,” says Koetser. “It’s thoughtful expansion where we can create real value for our clients, our partners, and the precincts we operate in.”
With Waterfall City now under development and African Rain Collection taking shape as a national portfolio, the next decade promises to be just as defining as the first.
www.wcconferencecentre.co.za | events@wcconferencecentre.co.za
