The Mother City and Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) successfully absorbed 12 700 conference delegates attending the 19th World Diabetes Congress with hardly a hiccup this week.

After a successful culmination of four years of extensive planning, the congress brought unprecedented economic spin-off to the region. It also ends a year which saw an increase in the number of international conferences coming to Cape Town.

In the second half of 2006, CTICC hosted 24 international conferences, an increase on the same period in the previous year. Highlights included the International Society of Blood Transfusion in September with a special blood collection initiative by CTICC, and in November the International Urology Congress which brought 4,100 delegates to Cape Town, the largest held to that date.

Other recent international events include the World Convention of the International Confederation of Principals, the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Conference and the International Conference of Radiology.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) congress which ended on Thursday "was what the CTICC was built for," said Dirk Elzinga, CTICC managing director.

"This was a good test for us all and we have proved to the world what Cape Town is capable of. The success of the congress, the flexibility of the CTICC and the professionalism of our team and all specialist suppliers confirms our status as a world-class convention centre with many future benefits for Cape Town."

During the congress CTICC hosted 13 organisers of big international conferences and events. "All eyes were on how well we coped," said Elzinga. Only Cape Town's unpredictable weather - which prompted the opening ceremony to be moved indoors - and "challenges" at Cape Town International Airport marred the scene.

"The airlines had no significant problems with transporting all delegates to Cape Town particularly because many had booked holidays elsewhere in the country before or after the congress," said Elzinga. Nothwithstanding the fact that 800 extra delegates turned up without being registered, no accommodation problems have been brought to CTICC's notice.

Elzinga said that international clients spoke positively both about the architecture of the building as well as the friendliness of CTICC staff. "We had many compliments on the successful flow of visitors within the centre and the modern, airy and light atmosphere of the building."

Logistics planning and employee training alongside the CTICC's flexible design and capacity for expansion were critical factors in the success of the IDF congress.

CTICC's staff complement of 92 was augmented by some 500 extra staff, mostly in the catering, food service and security areas. In the past 12 months more than 5000 people were directly or indirectly employed as a result of CTICC's operations, nationwide.

The year 2006 has seen significant growth for CTICC. In its third financial year it accrued an operating profit of almost R20 million (21% up from the year before), after hosting 454 different events (24% up from 2005).

"This has been a very spectacular year for the CTICC," said Elzinga. "However, as we move into 2007 the number of events and visitor and delegate numbers will stabilise as fewer of the very large conventions are booked. An overall growth however is still to be expected, and in the years further ahead - 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 - CTICC already has bookings for congresses with more than 10 000 delegates."

While most of Cape Town moves into holiday mode, CTICC's work continues. Tomorrow it welcomes education ministers from governments around the world to the week-long XVI Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers 2006.

The Cape Town Book Fair, taking place at the CTICC for the second time in June, will almost double its capacity in terms of exhibition space and is due to attract some 30 000 visitors. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) 2007congress which will be taking place in the same month, is one of the most prestigious events of the year and brings top newspaper editors from all over the world to Cape Town.

Perhaps the most interesting conference for many in the Western Cape, however, will be the 17th Biennial Conference of the Biology of Marine Mammals in December 2007.

Molo says: For conferences, conventions and events coming up in Cape Town at the Cape...