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THE Cape Town Convention Bureau (CTCB) has been certified as one of the best of its kind in the world.
It joins only eight other convention bureaus on five continents in having received BestCities Global Alliance service standards certification following a stringent independent audit by Lloyds’ Register Quality Assurance (LRQA). The announcement was made at a media conference held by the eight BestCities partners (Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Melbourne, San Juan, Singapore and Vancouver) at the 47th International Congress and Convention Association congress and exhibition in Victoria, Canada on Monday afternoon. CTCB recently secured eight major world conferences for the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 2011 to 2014. In 2007/2008, it submitted 29 bids for international conferences/congresses involving more than 64 000 delegates and resulting in an economic injection of R583m. To date, 12 of these bids have been secured, drawing 23 600 delegates and an economic injection of about R254m. CTCB is a strategic business unit of destination marketer, Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU). Chief executive, Calvyn Gilfellan, said the accolade confirmed the city’s status as a serious player in the global meetings, incentive travel, conference and exhibitions industry. "We have adopted the BestCities service standards and implemented processes as part of our adherence to the BestCities Global Quality Policy. It recognises the fact that CTCB is an established, progressive and well-oiled convention bureau by international standards. Having passed with flying colours after two days of grueling scrutiny, we can now truly say that we are a world leader in the convention industry," he said. The external audit and certification process by LRQA will be repeated annually. A team from CTCB Is attending the ICCA Congress to position the city and the province as a premier MICE destination, specifically in the run-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
