Thank you

Dear Tourism & Hospitality Partner

HICA 2009, has officialy come to an end!

As the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, we would like to express a big THANK YOU to all our sponsors, supportive partners and delegates who attended the 3rd edition of the  Hospitality Investment Conference Africa, that took place from 4 to 6 November, at the Sandton Sun hotel in Johannesburg.

Looking back at the inaugural conference in 2007, we can confidently say that HICA has  grown in leaps and bounds.  This year the conference boasted an impressive line up of over 60 speakers from some of the industry's most respected global brands.  

The conference aims to create a platform for dialogue on investment and development opportunities, for the African hospitality sector and to share world trends which are necessary for Africa's development.  In this respect, we believe we raised the bar not only in terms of the speaker line-up but also considering the topics up for discussion.   

The impact of the global economic crisis on lending as well as the challenges of investing in Africa were two themes that featured strongly throughtout the conference but - for the first time - the program allowed for breakaway sessions so that specific issues affecting different regions could be explored in more detail.

Delegates also explored the technical aspects of the industry dealing with the various hotel investment models and Return on Investment in building hotels. It is important to note that based on the feedback from both speakers and delegates, the outlook for future of the African hospitality sector is very positive - many saying that the hospitality sector in Africa has enormous potential for development - we definitely agree!

We are especially proud to have hosted the Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.  His attendance serves as confirmation of his commitment to promoting investment opportunities for South Africa and the continent as a whole. The department's continued support for the conference, as well as the launch of the South African Tourism Investment Portfolio for 2009 at HICA serves as further confirmation.

As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, we urge those who did not participate to consider taking part next year.  HICA 2010 is scheduled to take place from 31 October to 2 November.  We look forward to welcome you at the conference.  

Once again thank you to our sponsors, speakers and panelists, supportive partners and of course our delegates. See you at HICA 2010!

Warm Regards,

Mmatsatsi Marobe
CEO Tourism Business Council of South Africa