PUBLICATION: 702
IMAGE: CTICC website© Provided by CapeTalk
Crystal Orderson interviews the CEO of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Taubie Motlhabane.
- The Cape Town International Convention Centre is known as the leading convention centre on the continent
- Event bookings are booming and the CTICC is getting back to pre-COVID levels when it hosted on average 500 events a year
The landmark Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has become a feature of the Mother City skyline. Known as the leading convention centre on the continent, the CTICC says it is proud to have made a sustained economic and social impact for over 20 years. Current CEO Taubie Motlhabane had a baptism of fire when she took over the reigns three years ago. Just about a month after the seasoned executive stepped into the CEO position at the end of January 2020, the CTICC had to close its doors.
The Centre then played a new role as a COVID field hospital.
This is when I discovered just the magic that a convention centre is in a community and as a facility, not just events but actually a very important part of the social fabric of any community... and the role a convention centre can play when times are good and when times are bad.
Taubie Motlhabane, CEO - Cape Town International Convention Centre
Motlhabane notes that the CTICC is nearing the booking levels it boasted before the pandemic.
Before COVID it was looking in the region of hosting about 500 events a year, she says, and it has 445 confirmed for 2023 so far.
Events are essential to the movement of knowledge and essential in the impact they have on the economy, she emphasizes.
Those 500 events (pre-COVID) come through the doors of the CTICC but out of those 500, hundreds of thousands delegates actually visit Cape Town and in doing so it's not only benefiting the Convention Centre but it has got an impact on the entire economy of Cape Town, the Western Cape, and ultimately South Africa.
Taubie Motlhabane, CEO - Cape Town International Convention Centre
The events the CTICC has contracted well into 2029/2030 amount to a value of around R1.1 billion so far.
And the value of that forward book continues to grow the CEO says.
That means that if we host each of those events and we also host some events that we don't know yet are coming to us, we are looking to contribute - when we get back to pre-COVID levels - about R6 billion per annum to the GDP of the country and possibly about R5 billion into the economy of the Western Cape.
Taubie Motlhabane, CEO - Cape Town International Convention Centre
The economic impact of events and the importance of convention centres can never be overstated, Motlhabane reiterates.
She is also passionate about job creation and the role the CTICC can play in helping young people find employment.
The City of Cape Town estimates that delegates at these events spend between R3 200 and R6 400 per day during their stay, contributing billions to the economy and also generating jobs.
I feel that as the CTICC we have an absolute responsibility to ensure that we create the jobs that are sustainable for our young people to continue to be employed... and we actually progress to creating programmes in partnership with the private sector that can produce jobs into the new economies that we are seeing opening, the technology economy for instance...
Taubie Motlhabane, CEO - Cape Town International Convention Centre
I believe in the events space, especially in the 'my space'... there is a big opportunity for us to work with the private sector to create jobs in many sectors... We don't only look for people who have studied hospitality and tourism, we are looking for engineers, for finance people, sales and marketing people...
Taubie Motlhabane, CEO - Cape Town International Convention Centre
At the moment for example, the CTICC is looking at a partnership with the Youth Employment Service run by Ravi Naidoo.
The programme is fully funded by the private sector and offers employment for 12 months with the hope that some participants will finally be absorbed into the host company.
As the CTICC we are putting our hand up to ensure that we don't only talk but we walk the talk.
Taubie Motlhabane, CEO - Cape Town International Convention Centre