The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) has confirmed that the inaugural Travel & Tourism Business Exchange will take place from September 2-4 in Johannesburg.

The conference will comprise two and a half days of deliberations, exhibitions, networking and social events with an expanded programme allowing for close delegate interaction. The venue is still to be confirmed. 

It is a joint initiative between TBCSA and five of its member associations: The Association of South African Travel Agents (Asata), Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa), National Accommodation Association of South Africa (NAA-SA), Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (Savrala) and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA).

“The main objective of hosting a joint industry conference is to facilitate industry co-operation and reduce the proliferation of conferences within the sector,” said TBCSA CEO, Mmatšatši Marobe.  

“By convening one conference at the beginning of Tourism Month 2012 we aim to create a central platform where members can address industry-specific issues, as well as the challenges and opportunities that impact on the entire sector,” she said.  

“One industry conference will save valuable time and money when compared with previous years where all tourism associations hosted member-based conferences on an annual basis.  These conferences usually attract the same delegates and tend to address the same macro-economic issues,” said Michael Tatalias, CEO of SATSA.

“This is an event not to be missed and we want to urge all our members within Fedhasa and the broader travel and tourism business community to diarise these dates,” said Eddy Khosa, CEO of Fedhasa.   
    
Marobe said the timing of the conference was significant, with September being Tourism and Heritage Month in South Africa. “This is an opportune time to reflect on the current state of the industry and to further deliberate growth opportunities for our industry. We urge all travel and tourism operators to diarise the date and make sure they do not miss this important industry gathering.”

For more information, visit www.tourismvision2020.co.za.