Below is a response from the Durban ICC to the article published in Tourism Update on April 8.
In response to the article published on the Tourism Update website on April 8, the Durban ICC would like to correct any misrepresentation and put on record the facts of the matter.
1.Catering and Corkage Policy
We must emphasise categorically that nothing has changed to our catering and corkage policy for the 2013 Indaba show. The policy at the Durban ICC is by no means a new policy and has been the norm for trade shows since its inception. Anyone who has read the Exhibitor Manuals from past Indaba shows will see that the policy has been clearly detailed in the section covering ‘Catering and Vending’.
Copies of previous Exhibitor Manuals for at least the last five years are freely available to support this fact. In addition, this policy has also been available to all potential exhibitors on the official Indaba website each year. For Indaba 2013 this unchanged policy was loaded on 27th November 2012, and as such claims that this information was provided at the 11th hour are incorrect.
The charging of a corkage fee is not unusual for convention centres both locally and internationally. We are not aware of any convention centre or hotel which allows external beverages to be offered and consumed in their venue without the charging a corkage fee.
By way of example, below is a direct comparison of our policy with that of the Sandton Convention Centre and the CTICC’s Exhibitor Policy.
Durban ICC Policy:
CATERING & VENDING
All food and beverages must be provided through the ICC who have
exclusive rights for the sale and supply thereof.
No catering may be provided without the express, written permission of the venue.
Any beverage not provided as a sample as per above, will be subject to a corkage fee.
Should the exhibitor require catering facilities for private functions,
WWC and the Exhibitor shall agree on the venue within the Exhibition Facility.
CTICC Policy:
“6. ALCOHOL
The CTICC is a fully licensed venue and alcohol may not be brought
onto the premises.
A special permit is required for promotional and sponsorship alcohol
and a corkage fee applies.
The CTICC requires advance notification of such requests and the
decision to permit promotional or sponsorship beverages is at the discretion of the CTICC management.
Only CTICC staff or its appointed contractors may serve alcohol and
may only do so to people over the age of 18.”
Sandton Convention Centre Policy:
“ALCOHOL
The venue is a fully licensed venue and alcohol may not be brought onto the premises. A special permit is required for promotional and sponsorship alcohol and a corkage fee will apply.
The venue requires advance notification of such requests and the decision to permit promotional or sponsorship beverages is at the discretion of venue management.
Alcohol may only be served to people over the age of 18.”
2. Corkage fees
With regards to the prices charged for the corkage, the Durban ICC’s corkage fees have always been, and remain lower than those of both Cape Town and Sandton convention centres. By way of example, the Durban ICC’s corkage fee on a bottle of wine is R40 per bottle of wine, the CTICC’s corkage fee is R45/bottle and Sandton Convention Centre’s corkage fee is double that of the ICC’s at R80 for a bottle of local wine.
The Durban ICC exhibits at many trades shows both locally and internationally and have never been permitted to bring our own food or beverages onto our stands without paying corkage. This is indeed the norm in the industry. By way of example we recently exhibited at the Meetings Africa show at the Sandton Convention Centre. As an exhibitor we were not allowed to bring in our own drinks without a corkage fee. We had to purchase bottled water for our stand from the Sandton Convention Centre at a cost of R15.96 per 500ml bottle which is higher than the R15 that we charge for bottled water. To our knowledge exhibitors did not claim the Sandton Convention Centre was profiteering from Meetings Africa and indeed this is the norm in the industry.
3.Samples
The Management of the Durban ICC appreciate that Indaba is a show focused on hospitality, which in some cases includes a variety of culinary experiences. In cases where an exhibitor is a producer of a beverage, such as a wine estate or a brewery, we have always been, and continue to be, open to extending approval to offer their own product on their stand for promotion. Each of these requests is dealt with on its merits and many exhibitors have been granted permission to offer these samples on their stands each year. For example, the Kenyan Tourism authority has been authorised in the past to offer Kenyan beer tastings from their stand as well as Spier Wine Estate offering wine tastings.
4. Short-sighted profiteering
Addressing comments made to the article about the ICC exploiting the event for profit, Julie-May Ellingson, the centre’s Chief Executive Officer responded, “Nothing could be further from the truth. The Durban ICC has repeatedly shown its support for Indaba through its generous sponsorship of the event over many years. In terms of the current 3 year Indaba contract alone, the Durban ICC’s sponsorship of Indaba exceeds R18 million. To view the Durban ICC’s catering policies, which are in line with the industry norms, as being unsupportive or an attempt to profiteer from the Indaba event is simply unfounded.”
5.Catering offerings
The Durban ICC provides a wide variety of catering options for the exhibitors at all shows who wish to offer their clients hospitality from their stands. Exhibitors at Indaba can pre-order catering options which range from Hot Food Platters and Vegetarian Platters to Fresh Fruit Bowls and even Sushi Platters. We are always open to suggestions regarding the catering options which we offer. Should our current selection of catering options not cover a particular taste, we would welcome any new ideas.
6. Engagement
It is clear from the responses from exhibitors on this matter that communication between the venue, the organisers and exhibitors needs to be improved so as to avoid such misrepresentation of information in the future. The Durban ICC remains committed to Indaba and welcomes engagement with the industry and the organisers on how best to improve Indaba going forward.
