The second Hospitality Investment Conference Africa (HICA) was held at the Hilton Sandton Hotel from 28 to 30 September this year.The reason to host the conference in Johannesburg rather than Cape Town like last year was based on the fact that Johannesburg is an ideal host city since it is the business capital of South Africa and offers more direct flights from other African cities and Europe.

The theme for 2008 “Africa is Open for Business” featured throughout the programme.We would like to thank all of your speakers who contributed to the high level interactions that took place both on the stage and in the passages.

The conference social event highlights included a welcome reception (with Judith Sephuma - a well known and loved entertainer in South Africa) and as always she did not disappoint, a Gala Dinner at Lekgotla (The premier African Restaurant) on the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton was of note.

An awards ceremony and a Motivational Talk by Bill Gallagher - an icon of the hospitality industry in Southern Africa, followed by a lucky draw which saw many delegates walk away with impressive prizes ranging from holidays to special gifts.

It is for this reason that we would like to thank all our delegates that attended HICA 2008 and participating fully during the different sessions of the conference, without your support and presence the conference would not be a success - THANK YOU!

As you know, without the sponsorship commitments, events like this just would not be possible. It is against this background that we view our sponsors association and support with us as very valuable and we appreciate your dedication and commitment to HICA.

We will soon be sending invitations out to various stakeholders, which includes financiers, hotel developers, construction companies, lawyers I legal experts, interior designers. architects and hospitality I hotel facility managers, for the 2009 conference. Should you wish to include any guests not on our current mailing list please feel free to contact our office with the leads on email at admin@tbcsa.travel with leads.

Thank you once again and we are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial working relationship with you and your organisations as we grow HICA to even greater heights!

We look forward to interacting with you again at the HICA 2009 Conference scheduled for 20 to 22 September 2009!