Well respected tourism stalwart, Spencer Pillai, has been appointed to head up the Johannesburg Convention Bureau.

Pillai who has been General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Gallagher Estate for the last six years will officially start at JTC in January 2007 in his new position as General Manager: Convention Bureau.

Commenting on Pillai’s appointment, Eddy Khosa, CEO JTC says, “We are delighted to have someone with such a wealth of experience joining the team. Spencer will play an invaluable role in assisting the JTC to further promote and grow business tourism in Joburg.

Most recently Pillai was responsible for re-developing a new company profile and identity for Gallagher Estate as part of its upgrading to a 5 star venue. He was also integrally involved in initiating a number of loyalty and CRM programmes at the Estate and represents Gallagher on a number of high level industry associations.

Commenting on his appointment Pillai says, “ I am very excited to be joining such a dynamic team and really look forward to spearheading tourism  growth even further during the coming year. “

Pillai says on the business tourism side, JTC needs the support and buy in on planned projects from all the various strategic partners. Equally JTC will be very receptive to any plans the corporate market may have which will benefit both business and leisure tourism in Johannesburg.

“There is no doubt that South Africa remains a long haul destination and business tourism can only flourish in conjunction with leisure tourism. We will be looking to all our various strategic partners to find ways of making our city more attractive to both markets,” notes Pillai.

“The challenge moving forward in this highly competitive market place is to continue to innovate and essentially come up with new tricks on old ideas. We need to keep our offering fresh and dynamic and its going to require a joint effort from all the various stakeholders and partners.”

The appointment has been welcomed by industry heads. Carol Weaving, Managing Director of Thebe Exhibitions and Events Group says she believes Spencer’s experience in business tourism and his 10 year tenure at Gallagher will enhance JTC’s existing team and really add value. “I think it is a win-win situation, particularly at a time when business tourism is so critical to Johannesburg.”

This view is endorsed by Craig Newman, CEO of the Johannesburg EXPO Centre who felt that an appointment of this calibre was a very positive move for the Johannesburg Tourism Company.

“With Pillai concentrating on the Convention Bureau, his appointment gives us the leverage to give special attention to service delivery and to place a new focus on business tourism, both on the domestic and international markets,” says Khosa. 

In this regard, JTC have also just appointed Silindile Nyoka – Business Tourism Assistant: International and Nikki Akanbi  – Business Tourism Assistant: Domestic to concentrate on these two important market sectors.