Tourism & Travel News South Africa

High profile speakers to attend SETE Conference

The second edition of the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE) is to be held at the ICC Durban from 12-14 September 2012, and having secured a number of high profile international and local exhibitors and speakers, the exhibition and conference both look set to build upon the success of the inaugural event held in Cape Town last year.

The event, which will be hosted in Durban for three years, looks to facilitate relationships between South Africa's tourism, sport and event industries, promoting the country as a popular sports and events destination.

South Africa's solid reputation as a viable location for events has also attracted the interest of more than 60 international buyers to the upcoming conference. According to SETE conference director Sugen Pillay these buyers will be keen to assess our capacity and ability as a country to host mega international events which they will be interested in bringing to South Africa. "The aim of SETE is to position the country as a mega events destination, aimed at providing a platform to exhibit our capabilities and therefore to attract more mega events, and the presence of prominent international stakeholders at SETE will no doubt be a contributing factor in this regard," Pillay says.

Discussing SA's sport codes

Some of the key speakers at the conference include His Excellency Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, secretary-general of the Qatar Olympic Committee; Mike Lee, who was responsible for the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics; Winand Krawinkel, MD of Adidas International; Paul Bush, CEO of Event Scotland; Sandie Dawe, CEO of Visit Britain and Thomas Abrahams, editorial director of SportzPower India.

Conference delegates will also be able to participate in a panel discussion about the key sporting codes in South Africa that will engage sports administrators like Oregan Hoskins, vice president of the IRB; Sam Ramsamy, IOC executive committee member; Danny Jordaan, vice president of SAFA; and Shaun Adriaanse, CEO of Swimming SA. Other dignitaries who will be in attendance will be the mayor of Durban, who will open the conference; the KZN MEC for Sport Ntombikayise Sibhidla-Saphetha, who will make a presentation before national Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula delivers the keynote address.

Let's do Biz