Poised For Innovative Solutions

Adversity and innovation. This is the new reality for business tourism in South Africa, which the Cape Town International Convention Centre has embraced on all fronts.

- Taubie Motlhabane

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested every one of us, often to our limits and beyond. One of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic has been tourism. Jobs have been shed and businesses have closed. The impact on families and the economy at large has been devastating.

At the time of writing, we are at Level 1 of the national lockdown and restrictions have relaxed significantly. However, this is still a time of challenge for those of us operating in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) space. The number of allowed participants is not yet big enough for it to have a significant impact in reversing the losses made during the hard lockdown levels.

As with all adversities throughout history, South Africa and the world has seen a focus on innovation and “outof-the-box thinking” in the tourism industry. With most meetings, business events and gatherings restricted, venues and suppliers to this industry have had to come up with alternative or flexible business models and ideas to “stay alive”.

The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has built its reputation on the pillars of its triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. These pillars are our guiding principles in the decisions we take in our business. At the beginning of 2020, the CTICC could never have foreseen that within just a few months, we would be hosting a COVID-19 field hospital in one of our buildings. But that is exactly what happened when a global pandemic put a halt to all conferences and exhibitions, and lockdown restrictions meant that the CTICC could no longer operate as an events venue. We went from running a conference centre to running a hospital.