Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has set unexpected new records and achieved a milestone in its history: a turnover of more than R100m was achieved during the 12 months ending June 30, 2007.

During the financial year the convention centre contributed R2.4bn to South Africa’s GDP. As a result of its activities 3 796 people were directly employed in the Western Cape. A further 5 343 people were indirectly employed elsewhere in the country.

In its fourth year of operation CTICC’s operating results were up by 52% and its contribution to its holding company Convenco increased to R30.3m, up R10.4m on the previous year.

The holding company is owned by City of Cape Town, The Provincial Government of the Western Cape and SunWest International.

“The centre had performed beyond all expectations during the financial year”, said CTICC managing director, Dirk Elzinga.

“These are seriously better than anticipated financial results and this contribution to Convenco is an exceptional achievement,” said Elzinga. “There is no doubt at all that the 2006/07 financial year was the most exciting in the history of the CTICC.”

He said that for the first time since operations began in 2003 the centre was able to prove that the venue and its staff were capable of hosting really large city-wide conferences.

The largest event held to date was the 19th World Diabetes Congress which attracted 12 300 delegates to Cape Town in December 2006 and occupied the entire centre.

During the financial year CTICC accommodated 509 events including 46 international conferences.

There was improved performance from a number of departments. The most significant was the rise in venue rental - up 25% on the previous year - and the income from the food and beverage department which increased by 28%.

Parking operations saw a 40% increase in turnover during a year in which parking tariffs remained unchanged.

“International events contributed substantially to the strongly improved financial results of the company,” said Elzinga, “but the 31 national conferences, 26 exhibitions and trade fairs and 69 banquets that were hosted in 2006/07 were no less important for the performance of the CTICC.”

Some of the successful international meetings hosted during the past financial year included the Third Assembly of the Global Environmental Facility (900 delegates); 29th Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (2 105); 24th International Congress of Radiology (1 200); 28th Congress of the Societe Internationale d’Urologie (3 500); 10th International Design Indaba (2 100); Investing in Africa Mining Indaba (4 000) and the 60th World Congress and 14th World Editors Forum which brought 1 600 editors and publishers to Cape Town in June this year.

Molo Says: “Read more about B&B & hotel Accommodation near the Convention Centre or check out the location of the CTICC in our Google Earth Map of Cape Town.”

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