Mayor Patricia de Lille officially opened the new extension to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) last week.
“The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) 2 is open for business, and we welcome the world and delegates. We look forward to the further growth of the centre,” said Ms De Lille at the official opening of the new building on Thursday, January 26.
Cape Town International Convention Centre CEO, Julie-May Ellingson, said the CTICC is now a fully integrated event venue complex, which offers clients choice and flexibility.
“What are the benefits of this extra space? Essentially, two things: greater capacity and greater flexibility. We can now host very large events, such as the upcoming 15 000-delegate World
Ophthalmology Congress, across the entire complex. Cape Town would never have won this bid if it wasn’t for the CTICC’s expansion. We can host multiple large events across both venues simultaneously, which we couldn’t do before. We can now welcome more events and more people in more ways,” said Ms Ellingson.
The new complex has six exhibition halls, four meeting suites, five meeting pod rooms, an executive boardroom, three open-air terraces including a rooftop venue, a coffee shop, and a multi-level parking garage. It also boasts free public wi-fi, a four-star green rating for environmental sustainability, three kitchens to cater for events and a service tunnel under Heerengracht avenue connecting CTICC 2 with CTICC 1,” said Ms Ellingson.
Ms De Lille said CTICC 2 boosts Cape Town’s reputation as a globally competitive business events destination.
She said the CTICC had hosted nearly 7 000 events since 2003.
“Through its operations, the centre sustained a total of 107 000 jobs directly in the Western Cape and nationally since opening. The CTICC has made a cumulative economic contribution to national GDP of R36.3 billion and added R32 billion to the Western Cape economy,” Ms De Lille said.
She said CTICC 2 had also created much-needed jobs.
She said the City had invested R550 million to the expansion of the CTICC. “We’ve also announced the Foreshore development plan, and now, the Foreshore is the fastest developing precinct in the city.
Alan Winde, MEC for economic growth, reiterated that the CTICC was a catalyst for the economy.
“This centre provides massive opportunities. The construction of this building was done by a 100% black-owned company.
“The CTICC’s important role in job creation and bringing revenue into the province cannot be underestimated.
“My hope is that the new, expanded convention centre will radically accelerate the creation of jobs for residents in this sector.
“As part of Project Khulisa, my department has been focused on growing the tourism sector and creating more jobs.”
He said the city had changed dramatically and attributed this to the CTICC.
He spoke about the glass skybridge that would be constructed to link CCTIC and CTICC 2. “This will be the place where the best photographs of Table Mountain can be taken.”
Guests who attended the ceremony were entertained by Jimmy Nevis and a number of dance acts.
They also conducted a tour of the conference halls.
Ms Ellingson said the CTICC had secured 133 bookings for events, with 58 of these being international conferences.
“Thirteen of these events will take place concurrently in both our buildings and 20 events have already been contracted to take place in CTICC 2.”
Upcoming events at the CTICC 2 include the Microsoft Tech Summit in February; FanCon Comic Con and Decorex in April and the Africa Utility Week in May.
While Cape Town’s severe drought remains the key talking point in the city, Ms Ellingson said in a statement that the CTICC had implemented several water saving measures to reduce the centre’s water consumption.
“Events at the CTICC are taking place as usual. Most of our water savings initiatives take place ‘behind the scenes’ and is part of our facilities management operations.”
The CTICC has been running water conservation initiatives for several years. By the 2015/16 financial year, the centre had already been using 10 million litres less water than it did five years earlier. As the drought intensified, the centre also installed storage tanks to capture rain water and increased the grey water storage capacity,” she said.
