South Africa has secured 66 international and regional conferences in the 2025/26 financial year with Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille saying, in her recent National Council of Provinces budget vote speech, that the events are expected to contribute more than R1.2 billion (US$73.7 million) to the economy between 2025 and 2030.
De Lille said the conferences will be hosted across a range of destinations including Bela-Bela, Cape Town, Durban, Grabouw, Hermanus, Johannesburg, Makhanda, Mbombela, Polokwane, Skukuza, Sun City and Tshwane.
Corne Koch, Chief Convention Bureau Officer for the South African National Convention Bureau (SANCB), told Tourism Update that the secured conferences signal improving momentum in the country’s business events sector.
“In 2025/26, the SANCB supported 107 bids of which 66 conferences have been secured to date. This represents a strong secured pipeline and points to improved conversion from bid support into confirmed business events,” she said.
Compared with the immediate post-pandemic period, the current pipeline reflects a positive recovery and renewed market confidence in South Africa as a business events destination, Koch added.
“Pre-pandemic bid submission volumes were higher in some years. The highest was 119 bid submissions in 2019/20. The current performance therefore indicates that the sector has regained momentum while still requiring careful comparison because bid submissions, secured conferences and hosted conferences are different measures.”
Demand, sectors and markets
In the 2021/22 to 2025/26 financial years, demand for South Africa’s conference pipeline was strongest in medical and life sciences, followed by business process outsourcing, education and manufacturing, Koch said. “These sectors have consistently generated a significant number of conference bids and hosted events.”
According to Koch, this trend aligns with global conference patterns and with South Africa’s wider economic priorities.
“The strong representation of these sectors within South Africa’s conference pipeline demonstrates that the business events sector is supporting broader national economic development and investment objectives by attracting international conferences that showcase the country’s expertise, stimulate knowledge exchange and promote investment in strategic industries.”
From a source market perspective, Koch said South Africa’s pipeline continues to be supported by a combination of regional African demand and long-haul international markets including Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
Wider spread
Through its National Association Project, launched in 2021 as part of SA Tourism’s recovery efforts, the SANCB has taken conferences into villages, townships and small towns while helping local associations build capacity to host meetings and conventions.
The project has taken 35 business events to destinations such as Gariep Dam, Upington, QwaQwa, Thohoyandou and Soweto, welcoming 6 853 delegates over 117 event days.
“For a SANCB investment of just R8.34 million (US$512 072), these events generated an estimated R70.6 million (US$4.3 million) in economic impact,” said Koch. “And momentum is building: the most recent quarter alone delivered R5.7 million (US$349 965) in impact from five events. A highlight of the past financial year is that the South African Association of Public Administration and Management hosted its conference in Thohoyandou, Limpopo, attracting just over 800 delegates.”
Competitiveness
Koch said South Africa is most competitive when bidding for international conferences in sectors where the country has recognised expertise, strong academic and research institutions and well-established industry networks.
“The country’s competitive advantage is further strengthened by established conference infrastructure, experienced professional conference organisers, competitive value for money, a diverse destination offering and the financial and non-financial bid support provided by the SANCB. South Africa’s ability to combine high-quality meeting facilities with unique leisure, cultural and nature-based experiences also sets it apart from many competing destinations.”
Challenges
However, South Africa continues to face challenges when competing against destinations that offer substantially larger bid incentives, greater direct international air connectivity and more extensive government funding for business events, Koch pointed out.
“In addition, perceptions about safety and security, visa accessibility for delegates from certain markets and long-haul travel distances remain important considerations for some international associations when selecting a host destination.”
Future prospects
Koch said realising South Africa’s ambitions in the global business events market will depend on how effectively the country capitalises on emerging opportunities while addressing key competitiveness challenges.
Looking towards 2030, she said Africa’s business events industry is expected to benefit from broader continental growth trends including a young and rapidly growing population, increased demand for innovation, entrepreneurship, research collaboration and knowledge exchange and greater regional economic integration.
“Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area also presents potential to support increased intra-African trade, investment and business engagement, which could create further opportunities for meetings, conferences and exhibitions across the continent. At the same time, sustainability and responsible event practices are becoming increasingly important in positioning destinations globally,” Koch said.
She believes long-term success for South Africa will depend on leveraging these continental opportunities while strengthening its own competitiveness.
“This includes improving international air connectivity, supporting efficient visa and travel facilitation, sustaining investment in competitive bid support, strengthening destination confidence, including safety and security, and continuing to invest in high-quality convention infrastructure and event services.”
Spreading business events more widely across the country is also central to the sector’s future growth, added Koch.
“Expanding the geographic spread of business events to secondary cities, smaller towns and nature-based destinations will be important to ensure the benefits of the sector are more widely distributed across the country, particularly where these destinations have the infrastructure, access and local support required to host quality business events.”
