Business tourism under apartheid: The historical development of South Africa’s conference industry

Abstract

Conference tourism as part of MICE tourism has attracted a growing international literature. It is argued existing scholarship is overwhelmingly ‘present-minded’ and that historical issues relating to the conference industry often are overlooked. Using historical documentary sources and industry press, this paper examines the evolution of conference tourism in South Africa from the early 1960s to the period of the country’s democratic transition in 1994. Under apartheid, conference tourism was primarily a domestic affair, lacked professionalism and quality infrastructure in terms of dedicated proposed built conference venues. By 1994 whilst the country’s conference industry did not have any global standard facilities, the planning for such convention centres was in process in the country’s three major cities.