The Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre – the largest conference centre north of the Umgeni River – launches in Ballito early March 2014.  

Lerina McCall, director and co-owner of African Insignia Hotels and African Origin Hospitality Management, said that the Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre would fill an important gap in KwaZulu-Natal’s conference offering. It is the second largest coastal venue after Durban’s International Convention Centre and, with 1 000sq/m of exhibition space, can accommodate conferences and events for up to 600 delegates or exhibitions comprising up to 90 stands. 

African Insignia Hotels and its management arm, African Origin Hospitality Management, will both market and run the venue.  

Up until now, Ballito and its environs has been restricted to very small venues or forced to put up marquis to host larger events. Given that Durban is rapidly expanding northwards thanks to the relocation of the King Shaka International Airport in 2010, the creation of new business and industrial parks in the form of the Dube Tradeport and Aerotropolis and Cornubia, she said that current conference and event facilities left a gap in the market for the Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre.   

“The key is location. The new centre is close to the highway and the airport, so delegates will not have to travel long distances to and from Durban. There is also plenty of parking. At the same time, this venue is close to the Ballito town centre, shopping and restaurant venues and accommodation,” she explained.  

The Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre was created out of the Ballito Home Gallery in Moffat Drive which housed an eclectic mix of exterior and interior décor, interior designers/decorators, architects and developers under one roof.  

An investment of R1 million will see it completely transformed into an exhibition and conference venue in just one month. The outer shell remained in place while the interior was refitted with moveable panels to facilitate a wide range of events and meetings of different sizes. Display panels will also be on hand for those hosting exhibitions.  

Jessica Nhleko Director and co-owner said that the Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre would also be hosting its own lifestyle exhibitions. Regular exhibitions ranging from food and wine fairs to boating and car shows are already planned.

“Most importantly of all, the Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre is expected to attract additional revenue to Ballito. According to the National Conventions Bureau, business tourism generates more value than other tourism categories in terms of average spend per trip. Business travellers are estimated to spend, on average, three times more than their leisure counterparts which will benefit local businesses such as restaurants, entertainment venues and tour operators,” she said.  

The opening of the Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre is also expected to boost demand for accommodation. “Ballito has a wide choice of accommodation from upmarket hotels and guest houses to affordable bed and breakfast establishments which will suit a range of different conference and event organisers. Up until now, Ballito has been extremely busy in season. Conference delegates will allow the local hospitality industry to fill in the gaps during off peak periods,” Mc Call pointed out.  

In addition, because the Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre is also an ideal venue for weddings, family and corporate celebrations and dinners, it is also expected to open up opportunities for caterers, event organisers and decorators and boost the surrounding hotel occupancies.  

The Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre is also expected to create jobs both in the form of cleaning staff and managers related directly to the venue and in related businesses such as catering.

For more information, visit www.africaninsigniahotels.com and www.africanoriginhospitality.com.
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Editors’ Notes

The 676sqm Ballito Exhibition and Events Centre has the capacity to host the following numbers of delegates:

• Cinema style – 500
• U Shaped format – 200
• School room format – 350
• Round table format – 350
• Long table format – 400

 There is also sufficient parking for 60 cars on site and a further 200 cars 50metres from the centre.

About African Insignia Hotels and African Origin Hospitality Management

African Insignia Hotels is a sales and marketing representation company that represents specialised hotels and venues in key locations.   

With the success of African Insignia Hotels since inception, it became a natural next step to develop the group’s managerial arm with the establishment of African Origin Hospitality Management Pty Ltd.  

Venues that do not have the on-site depth of managerial experience are requiring experienced professional hoteliers to analyse, audit and scrutinise the operational set up of privately owned hospitality businesses, in order to maximize the return on investment for its shareholders. In addition to this, numerous small and medium business have not had the benefit to maximise their monthly operational profit through the streamlining of controls, operating systems and the maximisation of human capital at each property.  

African Insignia Hotels has established its management arm in a very unique manner. 

Other hotel management companies intertwine their operational costs with its sales and marketing infrastructure which means that for many smaller independent hospitality products, these management companies become unaffordable and hidden expenses are levied on to hotels which make them unsustainable.

African Origin Hospitality Management (AOHM) does not have a costly infrastructure due to the fact that the company has on contract several seasoned, experienced hoteliers they can call on, dependent upon the needs of each hospitality product. Once an assessment has been completed, a needs analysis is established and each owner can then select from a bouquet of services that are costed in accordance with the budgets of each property.  

AOHM also offers full management solutions on very cost effective terms as some owners want to have their property properly looked after and not have the hassle of day to day managerial issues.