Established in 2004, SAMIF is a voluntary federation representing associations in South Africa’s meetings industry. The associations that it represents are non-profit and are governed by boards that are elected by members and formal constitutions.

SAMIF consists of seven tourism industry associations: the Exhibition Association of Southern Africa (EXSA), the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI), the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE), the Technical Production Services Association (TPSA), the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA), the International Special Events Society (ISES) and the Southern African Tourism Services Association (SATSA).

SAMIF discusses and addresses strategic issues such as affiliation to international bodies, skills development, safety and security and bid procedures. The goal is to represent the broad spectrum of business tourism associations in South Africa, to the greater benefit of the industry. SAMIF will co-operate with any role player that has the same interests at heart and works closely with the business tourism unit of South Africa Tourism, the country’s official tourism marketing agency.

The federation fully supports Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa and represents the business tourism industry on the Tourism BEE Council.

SAMIF is playing a leading role in preparing the business tourism industry for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and in sustaining the business opportunities that will derive from it.

For more information on SAMIF, contact Carol Weaving on 011 549 8300 or carol@ThebeExhibitions.co.za