Hospitality Investment Conference Africa 2009 now in session

Proceedings for the third annual, Hospitality Investment Conference Africa (HICA) will officially begin this afternoon at the Sandton Sun hotel in Johannesburg.  Since its inaugural conference in 2007, the event has grown in leaps and bounds, this year boasting an impressive line-up of over 60 speakers, who will share their expertise and experience on the hospitality sector.

“There is no doubt that more investment is needed here in Southern Africa and in the rest of the African continent”, says Mmatšatši Marobe, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), conveners of HICA.  Some hotel groups such as African Sun, Rezidor, and Accor are already making their mark by expanding their operations to different parts of the continent, but we need to create the environment for more investment to take place.  We must tackle the factors that create barriers for investment head-on and showcase potential investment opportunities in the continent – essentially, that’s what HICA is all about”, Marobe affirmed.

Through their platinum sponsorship the National Department of Tourism has clearly showed its support and others have followed suit.  The above-mentioned hotel groups, along with FNB, Group RCI under the Registry Collection, the IDC, Now Media, the Global Hotel Network, Springbok Atlas, Trade and Investment Kwa-Zulu Natal and Grant Thornton have all put their weight behind the conference.

Apart from sponsorship, HICA has also received support from organizations such as Pam Golding Hotel Investment Consultants, Boundless Southern Africa, Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa and the Tourism Intelligence International among others, illustrating that the sector itself is ready and available for dialogue on this issue.

In today’s program, on-site registration will be open from 12h00 and the official proceedings will start from 14:00.  The day’s discussions will focus on the global economic outlook for the hospitality sector, ending off with a ‘welcome cocktail’ reception for the delegates.

“We are looking forward to robust debate and critical analysis of our sector from today’s speakers line-up which include Arthur de Haast of Jones Lang LaSalle, Kurt Ritter of Rezidor, Shingi Munyeza of African Sun, Professor Brian Kantor of Investec, Serge Hattier of Accor Hospitality, Iraj Abedian of Pan African Capital and Rudolf Gouws of FNB just to mention a few. I am confident that the conference will close on a high note, with credible suggestions and possible solutions that will take the sector forward”, concluded Marobe.