South African Tourism is pleased to announce that applications for registrations for INDABA 2016 will open today, July 13, 2015 at midnight. Africa’s Top Travel Show, INDABA 2016 will take place at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban from May 7 to 9, 2016.
The exhibitors and their businesses are the driving force for tourism growth both here at home in South Africa and across the continent. South African Tourism thanks them for their support in the past, and continued support in the future.
The three-day show attracts Africa’s best tourism and travel trade offerings who, in turn, attract the most influential buyers in the world. INDABA is the biggest platform for African tourism businesses to meet global buyers of their products and services.
INDABA this year saw participation by 20 African destinations with quantifiable growth in connectivity between buyers and exhibitors. When business closed at INDABA 2015 on May 12, 2015, meetings between buyers and exhibitors (as managed through INDABA’s Online Diary and Matchmaking System) had grown an incredible 69 percent over INDABA 2014, delivering a total of 29 058 business engagements for tourism across Africa.
A total of 7 704 people attended INDABA 2015. Of those, 5 242 were exhibitors; 1 595 were buyers; and 796 were journalists. There were 314 SADC exhibiting companies; 16 pan-African exhibiting companies and 725 South African exhibiting companies. Of the 1595 buyers in attendance, 301 were hosted buyers, an impressive 9.1 percent up on 2014.
The effective Business Buyer Lounge hubs will be available for registration to qualifying applicants from July 13, 2015. The cost of the Business Buyer Lounge pods remains unchanged from 2015 prices. They will be available again in 2016 to both exhibiting and non-exhibiting tourism businesses. The hosted buyers lounge will feature a dedicated meetings hub with 10 to 12 guaranteed meetings with hosted buyers.
Exhibiting space in the TECHzone will open for reservations on July 13, 2015, too. TECHzone exhibiting costs will remain unchanged for INDABA 2016.
Excitingly, a number of great value for money discounts are offered to exhibitors. These are available for TOMSA members (10 percent), TGCSA graded establishments (five percent), and for loyal exhibitors and for new exhibitors (10 percent). In addition, there is a special ‘early bird’ discount for any exhibitor that applies before the end of October, 2015.
INDABA’s success relies utterly on a committed, driven exhibitor contingent. The exhibitors and their businesses are the driving force for tourism growth both here at home in South Africa and across the continent. South African Tourism thanks them for their support in the past, and continued support in the future. No other tradeshow in Africa brings more exhibitors together.
INDABA, will remain focussed on delivering value to exhibitors both in the recruitment of quality hosted buyers, and in providing opportunities for exhibitors to interact valuably with each other with African tourism stakeholders and with those who set trends and define the environment in which tourism business is conducted.
For details on exhibitor discounts, and to register as an INDABA 2016 exhibitor, go to www.indaba-southafrica.co.za/exhibitor/. For more information about INDABA, please visit www.indaba-southafrica.co.za and follow #INDABA2016 on Twitter. Please contact Zaida Enver for more information.