New sense of unity in the events sector
The Eastern Cape tourism, entertainment, events and adventure sports sectors are collaborating on how to recover from the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) and National Arts Festival hosted a webinar recently in which sector representatives not only identified the challenges they are facing, but provided details on how they plan to go about stabilising their sectors.
The panel included Keith Bowler, the MD of Ironman SA, Glenton de Kock, CEO of the SA Association of Conference Industry (SAACI), Marc Mahambehlala, the MD of Mahambehlala Communications, Andrew Binning, CEO of Inkanyezi Events and Monica Newton, CEO of the National Arts Festival.
De Kock said: “For the first time in SA, all the event associations and exhibitions are working under one umbrella. The business event sector is currently resuming, except we have to adhere to regulations of not more than 50 people. We are aware that the number of people is not enough, but the clarity is how we push up the numbers.”
Acknowledging job losses and the closure of companies, De Kock said they have realised they needed to work with government institutions to ensure there were sufficient suppliers.
Mahambehlala, who is also the main organiser of the wellknown annual Ebubeleni Festival in Port Elizabeth, said it was difficult to cope because many companies were in the dark as to when events would be allowed again.
“Usually by this time we would have been in an advanced stage of planning for December. We have looked at other means of hosting the festival, such as going virtual like the National Arts Festival did. It will be difficult because the lifestyle event scene is when an actual person participates,” he said.
In the event of the virtual route being taken, it was important that people felt as though they were present at the actual event.
Ironman SA’s Bowler said they had done a huge amount of research on how to make the event Covid-19 compliant, and this research was ongoing.
Both Inkanyezi Events and the National Arts Festival agreed that adjustments would have to be made to suit the “new normal”.
“The event sectors were probably the first to be hit, and I’m sure will be the last to resume. We have to be creative in finding solutions. One of the ways we have done this is to go virtual with our exhibitions. So far the virtual offering is being well received,” said Binning.
“But our desire is go back to face-to-face events. I think the uncertainty is what is making people anxious.
“The virtual approach is perfect at the moment, especially for shows that involve international partnerships.”
Newton said her industry needed to build a relationship between performing artists and the audience.
“We need to find audiences who will actually value the work of the artists and pay for their work,” she said.
The panellists all agreed that the sectors needed to have a unified voice, focus on virtual shows and ensure that the safety of the audience and employees was prioritised.