CTICC wins big at the AIPC awards in Antwerp, Belgium

The Cape Town International Convention Centre has been awarded the 2019 Delegate Choice Award for Innovation at the AIPC (International Association of Convention Centres) Annual Congress in Atwerp, Belgium.

The award comes after the cente’s Chief Executive Officer, Julie-May Ellingson, made a compelling case during her presentation to AIPC delegates and committee members as to why the CTICC’s innovation should be awarded this prestigious prize.

The accolade recognised the CTICC’s efforts in reducing its water usage and its water saving initiatives including partnering with local community partners and the installation of a reverse osmosis plant. The reverse osmosis plant extracts sea and ground water for purification through a filtration system that removes salt and contaminants. This process produces 200 000 litres of potable water in a 24-hour cycle and more than meets the CTICC’s requirements.

The prize recognises “innovations and creative thinking in all areas of centre management, marketing and operations”.

“We are extremely proud and humbled to have won this award. We have made great strides in our efforts to reduce our water usage through various initiatives in and around our buildings, with our clients, staff and local community partners. In particular, our decision to install a reverse osmosis plant came after vigorous research into what would be the most feasible way to not only save water but to place some relief on the municipal water supply. Being able to minimise our water usage together with the installation of the reverse osmosis plant is a major accomplishment for us and this award it testament to that,” said Ellingson.

The CTICC was up against stiff competition from conference and events centres around the world including Sydney International Convention Centre, Adelaide International Convention Centre, Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore, Tampere Hall Congress and Concert Centre in Finland, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre in United Arab Emirates, and the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre in Russia.

AIPC President, Aloysius Arlando, congratulated the CTICC on winning the award and recognised the centre’s sustainability efforts.

“AIPC members are all working hard to demonstrate adaptive responses to their clients and communities, so delegates to our 2019 conference in Antwerp recognised the importance of CTICC’s sustainable solution to the recent drought challenge in Cape Town and voted them our 2019 Delegate Choice Award for Innovation. A great way of turning a challenge into a positive statement about their adaptive thinking abilities,” said Arlando.

On hearing of the news of the centre’s award, Deon Cloete, Chairperson of the CTICC Board of Directors, said that winning the award was testament to a great team effort around environmental sustainability.

“Back home we have just learnt about the Innovation Award that was bestowed on the CTICC at the AIPC annual conference in recognition of its continued efforts and initiatives around water and water management. The Board congratulates the CEO and her team for scooping this prestigious award. We are very proud of this great industry recognition for a job well done by our team in driving innovation, sustainability and a model around the management of scarce resources, a model no doubt that can and will be adopted by other industry players facing similar challenges and constraints,” said Cloete.