Climate Change Conference Comes To Cape Town?

Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg have put in a bid to host the 17th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in December 2011.
An estimated 30 000 international delegates are expected to descend on South African shores for the annual conference. “This is exactly the boost that South Africa needs to stimulate the tourism industry in general and business tourism in particular,” says Nina Freysen-Pretorius, National Chairperson of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI).

The summit is expected to inject around R800 million into the South African economy. “We at SAACI welcome this decision and as the voice of business tourism in South Africa, we will do our utmost to ensure that the industry will host a seamless summit; exceeding on the outcomes of the World Cup.

The December 2009 summit in Copenhagen was attended by more than 22 000 politicians, officials, reporters and NGO's. Planning for the summit started more than two years in advance and more than 100 meeting rooms were established for which 2 500 meetings were booked during the 13-day summit.

Source: SA Tourism Update