Johannesburg - The international convention centres (ICCs) in Cape Town and Durban have both contributed billions of rand to the national economy in the past year, overcoming the handicap that large international conferences have to be planned at least three years ahead and that a large part of the world has emerged from recession only recently.
Cape Town ICC, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and specialises in attracting the conferences and exhibitions of international professional organisations, contributed R2.99 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) and R1.05bn to the Western Cape economy. It is owned by the City of Cape Town, the Cape provincial government and the Sun International hotel group and hosts the largest number of international conferences in Africa.
Durban ICC, which was set up soon after South Africa emerged from the sanctions era and hosts very large international conferences in which South African government departments take part, is owned by the city council. It contributed R2.94bn to GDP and R2.73bn to the KwaZulu-Natal economy in the past year.
Announcing the results of the Durban ICC yesterday, Mato Madlala, the chairman of Durban ICC, said it had been built as a catalyst for economic prosperity and despite the challenging environment staff had worked hard to secure good quality events this year, as well as sustainable business for the years ahead.
These solid results were due to achieving above-target revenues and effectively controlling costs at all levels of the company.
It generated more than 1.25 million delegate and visitor days in Durban, 36 percent of which were by international visitors. This had added R566 million to net foreign exchange earnings and R268m in tax revenue.
Announcing the results of the Cape Town ICC last week, chief executive Rashid Toefy said it had achieved a net profit of R27m before tax – the highest in its 10-year history. In addition it generated revenue and other income of more than R158m – an increase of R18m from the previous year. “More importantly the centre continued to make a valuable contribution to driving job creation and skills development.”
Through its activities, more than 7 500 direct and indirect jobs were created nationally during the year. It had held 537 events compared with 514 the previous year and had generated more than 1.3 million delegate and visitor days – a 15 percent increase over the previous year and the highest figure recorded over the past 10 years. - Business Report