What is killing the Durban ICC?
THE Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban (ICC) was chosen South Africa’s Best Convention Centre 2022 for the third year in a row at the World MICE Awards. MICE in tourism refers to the acronym for Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions.
The customer market segment that the hospitality industry categorises the MICE segment into is known as “Meeting & Events”.
Lindiwe Rakharebe, chief executive officer, Durban ICC, said: “The trophy for being South Africa’s Best Convention Centre, for the third year in a row, belongs to every employee at this worldclass convention centre.”
However, when one drives past the Durban ICC, one cannot help but notice the under-utilisation of this venue.
The road allowing direct access to the Durban ICC, Walnut Road, used to be closed for weeks on end when the convention centre was booming, now traffic flows freely in the adjacent areas, street signs and banners notifying us of events taking place at the Durban ICC are few and far between and one cannot help but notice that the hive of activity around the venue is not what it used to be pre-Covid-19.
Conferences have taken a different turn where people are attending via digital technology and do not see the need to attend in person anymore.
The crime statistics and looting of 2021 did no favours for the centre as people are afraid to attend events in a destination noted for violence.
South Africa unfortunately is becoming the conversation of a lawless society where people are threatened and attacked while going about their normal day to day business.
Tourism is suffering tremendously as patrons are easy targets; they are relaxing and letting their guard down when engaging in tourist activities.
A meeting attendee will not carry his valuables when leaving a meeting venue for a comfort break but on returning, often finds he has quickly become the victim of crime as hospitality venues do not have stringent security measures in place.
Anyone can get a conference access card and walk into a big conference centre and help themselves to valuables whilst delegates are on a break.
Law and order are critical to the success of a destination. If people feel unsafe, they are more likely to avoid destinations where there are high crime rates or risks of violence.
A stable and safe environment is critical to promoting tourism. Tourism needs to make big strides in correcting perceptions of tourists where it is believed that crime and violence are the order of the day.
Literature provides factual statistics and information on all the negative aspects of Durban when searching for information on safety for tourists on Google.
Businesses are moving out of the city for this reason, people are being mugged and hijacked at robots in the city centre, the vicinity of the ICC. No business wants their clients to fight for their lives when patronising their services.
Therefore, law and order are crucial to the success of tourism in South Africa, as it creates a stable and secure environment that is essential for tourists to enjoy their stay, attract investment, and support employment opportunities.
The Cape Town International Convention Centre is in a more favourable position as it receives funding from alternate sources and these funds can be used to deploy additional security thereby showcasing a more desirable destination for tourism safety.
The Convention Centre in Cape Town is owned by the city and the provincial government whilst the Durban ICC is owned solely by the eThekwini Municipality, so it has to stand on its own two feet when crises arise.
The Western Cape takes safety very seriously and their government deployed additional safety units in 2022 to oversee tourist hotspots, with the Cape Town ICC being one of them. This automatically gives Cape Town an added advantage as a safer venue in which to host an event.
So often, we wonder about why the big events do not take place in Durban. Unfortunately the answers are clear and one of them certainly is not that Durbanites will not appreciate the event.
This is a convenient answer to give as no solution can be given for people’s preferences and mindsets however, if the real reason is given, it warrants action from tourism stakeholders to make Durban safe and this seems to be a tall order from what we observe. Durbanites fly to other destinations to watch their favourite shows so citing us as being unappreciative of a show is not a fair statement to make.
The safety and security of delegates is paramount and as soon as they start feeling safe, business will start booming again.
Safety is the first and most important factor for survival according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, without feeling safe, how do we survive?