The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) is looking forward to welcoming you to South Africa’s Eastern Cape province in August for our annual conference. The conference kicks off at Fancourt from 14h00 on Thursday 13th and finishes at 12h15 on Saturday 15th August, writes SATSA CEO, David Frost.
We have a great venue at Fancourt in George, which will continue the relaxed and informal atmosphere created by the 2014 conference at Spier Wine Estate. The format and conference set up is the same as last year – ‘the theatre in the round’ staged seating and a rich discussion-based format. This year PowerPoint presentations are definitely banned! We have tried to keep prices as low as possible – we do not mark anything up and pass on all discounts straight to you as delegates. We also have alternative accommodation at the Protea King George.
The theme this year is ‘Out of the Fire – Working Together for Growth’. We may well not be out of the fire by August – but the idea of synergising our disparate resources is a seductive one. South Africa’s Tourism Minister Derrick Hanekom has agreed to attend and he will deliver a keynote address on Thursday afternoon.
Dinner on Thursday evening is a relaxed food and wine treat, featuring the best restaurants and hotels of the Garden Route. There will be a more formal gala dinner at a secret, off-site venue on Friday evening.
Golf Day
There is a golf day on the stunning Montague course (rated 8th in the country by Golf Digest) on Thursday 13th. It will be a shotgun tee off at 08h00. An added bonus is that all delegates will be able to play on the number one ranked course in South Africa, The Links, on Saturday afternoon. We will also have a mountain bike outride that morning. For the less adventurous there is a stunning spa and steam/sauna area.
Transport
We are cognisant that access into George is somewhat limited. For those playing in the golf day, we suggest coming in on Wednesday 12th. We have blocked seats on Kulula out of Johannesburg – and you can book at the same time as your conference booking.
For delegates out of Cape Town, through the generous sponsorship of Hylton Ross we have laid on a 44-seater coach departing on Wednesday 12th in the afternoon and two 44-seaters departing on Thursday 13th. Two buses will return to Cape Town on the afternoon of Saturday 15th and one bus on the morning of Sun 16th August.
Online bookings can be made at www.satsa.com/2015-conference/
I look forward to seeing you at Fancourt.
David.
