The expansion of the Cape Town International Convention (CTICC) will deliver a significant boost for the Western Cape’s growing business travel industry.
Alan Winde, MEC of Economic Opportunities, today, 21 July 2014 attended the sod-turning ceremony for the expansion of the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
“The CTICC is a major economic catalyst and the planned expansion of the venue will significantly increase its capacity for meetings and exhibitions.
This will boost business travel to the province and create more employment opportunities in the tourism sector. In the previous financial year, it is estimated that the CTICC created 7 500 jobs. This is an excellent example of infrastructure-led growth paving the way for increased employment for our residents,” said MEC Winde.
In the last financial year, Wesgro, the Western Cape’s trade, investment and tourism destination promotion agency, secured 19 conference bids worth R347 million, which drew 27 580 delegates to our province.
“In this year we aim to attract 34 000 conference delegates and bids valued at R360 million. Business tourism is very lucrative as business travellers spend more than leisure tourists, which in turn creates more jobs. The growth of business travel complements our efforts to counter seasonality. As we broaden our offering, the Western Cape is becoming an all-year round destination,” said MEC Winde.
Over the past nine years of its existence, the CTICC has contributed nearly R20 billion to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is projected that the CTICC will add R22 billion to the national GDP over the next five years.
Enquiries:
Bronwynne Jooste, Spokesperson for MEC Alan Winde
Cell: 082 454 4365
Tel: 021 483 3550
E-mail: bronwynne.jooste@westerncape.gov.za
