At the SAACI National Annual Conference 2025, an audience-voted discussion cut straight to the commercial heart of South Africa’s business events (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) sector:
Where are the buyers?
The question struck a chord. Across the room, industry leaders shared a common experience: pipelines feel thinner, conversations more challenging, and the effort required to secure business is increasingly disproportionate to the return. Yet this is not a story of decline.
Rather, it is a moment of recalibration-one that calls for sharper alignment between buyer realities and destination readiness,
Drawing on more than 14 years of experience operating across the continent, Alex Wrottesley, Managing Director of Business Events at Into Africa DMC and Chairperson of SAACI, offered a clear perspective: buyers have not disappeared; they have become more cautious, more constrained and more discerning.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa benefited from relatively affordable air access, longer planning cycles, fewer regulatory hurdles and healthier discretionary budgets.
Today, the operating environment looks very different. Government policies increasingly influence where and how funds can be spent. European markets face capital movement and procurement constraints.
Visa complexity remains a deterrent.
While air routes have largely returned, airfare pricing has become a significant barrier to entry. At the same time, buyers are expected to deliver the same strategic outcomes with static or declining budgets, despite rising accommodation, logistics and supplier costs.
The result is a growing pressure point: more is required for less reward. When destinations cannot realistically bridge this gap, buyers quietly gravitate toward alternatives that feel easier, more predictable or lower risk.
“We are working harder than ever, yet converting fewer bids,” Ms Wrottesley noted.
This is not due to a lack of interest in South Africa, but rather to a more crowded and fragmented global marketplace. New destinations, aggressive price competition and intermediaries discounting unsustainably have increased risk and margin pressure throughout the value chain.
Compounding this challenge is the fact that many international buyers are now selling destinations they have never experienced first-hand, often without the time or budget for proper familiarisation.
In such an environment, confidence, clarity and credibility matter more than ever.
The opportunity lies in recognising that buyers are seeking partners, not simply prices. Winning them back requires realism about costs, honesty about constraints and a renewed investment in professional capability. It also requires a shift from fragmented selling to destination-led collaboration.
When South African agencies, venues, convention bureaux, academic institutions and government stakeholders align around a shared value proposition, buyers gain a clearer understanding of the destination as a whole-not merely its individual components. This collective approach reduces complexity, builds trust and shortens the path to decision making.
A practical example shared during the session highlighted how the Central Events and Conferencing Office (CECO), working with Visit Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch University, the local municipality and industry partners, has successfully positioned Stellenbosch as a cohesive business events destination despite limited resources. By leading with collaboration rather than competition, the destination becomes easier to understand and easier to buy.
For South Africa, market growth will not come from pursuing volume at any cost. It will come from valuing buyers as critical partners in the ecosystem, supporting them with accurate information, realistic pricing, seamless access and a compelling, unified narrative.
The buyers are still there. The challenge (and the opportunity) is to meet them where they are, rebuild confidence through coordinated action and ensure that South Africa remains not only an attractive destination, but a trusted and competitive one in the global business events market.