CAPE TOWN International delegates attending conventions in Cape Town spent R1413 a day each 40,4% more than international leisure tourists, a new survey of the convention industry has found.
Domestic delegates, while spending less than their international counterparts at R1204 a day, spent more than double that of their domestic leisure tourist counterparts when visiting the greater Cape Town area.
The study, the first that statistically measures and tracks convention delegates to Cape Town, highlights the importance of the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry, the value of which is estimated at R20bn in SA.
"International and domestic delegates represent the core components of business tourism to the country and as such cannot be overlooked when discussing the tourism industry within SA," said Rick Taylor, CEO of the Cape Town Convention Bureau.
"This research will assist us in monitoring the growth patterns of this integral, relatively untapped market over a period of time," said Taylor.
Of the international delegates surveyed during 2002-03, 77,6% were first-time visitors to Cape Town and Western Cape, with 39,6% of their total expenditure spent on accommodation, 9,1% on restaurants and a further 9,7% on shopping.
Domestic delegates spent 36,2% of their total expenditure on accommodation, 8% on restaurants and 7,7% on shopping.
The US was Cape Town's biggest market (20,4%), while the UK (8,7%) was second.
Of the delegates who attended corporate conferences, 88% were from overseas, while 87,7% who attended conferences set up by various national and international associations were from overseas. The remainder of the types of conferences attended were academic (53,7%), government (49,3%) and medical (27%).
Of the domestic delegates 48,6% were from Gauteng, 15,2% from KwaZulu-Natal and 11,1% from Eastern Cape.
Medical conferences were the most frequented with 73% of domestic delegates attending, while government conferences drew 50,7% of the delegates.
Jun 03 2003 07:19:11:000AM Chris van Gass Business Day 1st Edition
Publisher: Business Day
Source: Business Day
Conventions key to Cape Town tourism
Posted On Tuesday, 03 June 2003 02:00 Published by eProperty News
CAPE TOWN International delegates attending conventions in Cape Town spent R1413 a day each 40,4% more than international leisure tourists, a new survey of the convention industry has found.
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