DURBAN ICC HAS BEEN VOTED SOUTH AFRICA’S BEST CONVENTION CENTRE 2022
The judges have spoken. The Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban has been chosen South Africa’s Best Convention Centre 2022 for the third year in a row at the World MICE Awards.
Other South African nominees for 2022 were Cape Town International Convention Centre, CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria and Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The finest MICE brands from across the globe were revealed at a star-studded gala ceremony in Amman, Jordan.
The Durban ICC is one of the greatest legacies Nelson Mandela gifted to Durban – and even KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa –when he cut the ribbon in the late afternoon of Friday 8 August 1997.
The World MICE Awards is a global initiative to recognise and reward excellence in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry and the results follow a year-long search for the world’s leading MICE brands. Votes are cast by MICE industry professionals and the public in 100 countries, with the nominee gaining the most votes in a category named as the winner.
The awards were developed in response to an overwhelming demand from the MICE sector for a programme that was fair and transparent; a programme with a mission to serve as the definitive benchmark of excellence, to help foster a new era of growth, innovations and best practices on a global scale.
The MICE market is among the top targets in the South African government’s tourism development strategy, and has grown rapidly in recent years.
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 world-class convention centre.
“The iconic venue was chosen Africa’s Best Convention Centre in 2020 and 2021 and it would have been good to have made it a hat-trick by clinching the continental award again in 2022.
“However, we are thrilled beyond measure to have been judged South Africa’s Best Convention Centre and the accolade is testament to the Durban ICC’s team hard work to deliver exceptional event experiences to each and every client.
“Hosting two successful major events back-to-back – Africa’s Travel Indaba 2022 and the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour – affirms our commitment to world-class service excellence.”
She said the convention centre had worked diligently to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain business continuity as far as was possible under the dire circumstances.
“Winning awards is a visible demonstration of all the behind-the-scenes hard work from the Durban ICC teams and people whose principal focus is to continuously provide world-class customer service to clients, both local and international.
“It is for this reason that the close-knit team strives to maintain the Durban ICC strong inherent culture of warmth and hospitality that we are known for and strives to ensure that each guest leaves the Durban ICC happy and satisfied with the service received,” said Rakharebe.
The Dubai World Trade Centre was chosen World’s Best Convention Centre 2022. The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (Kenya) has been chosen Africa’s Best Convention Centre 2022.
For a full list of winners in the various categories visit: https://worldmiceawards.com/winners/2022