One of the most badly impacted industries by the pandemic was the tourism and hospitality industry. Many tour companies and accommodations have retrenched most of it's employees, losing not only employees but skillful and talented individuals they had on their teams. With things beginning to ease currently we see a lot of retrenched people utilizing their talents to start their own businesses. The Huge Expo is another good example of such instances, where two young friends who were retrenched during the pandemic have started not only their own accommodation business but a well planned tourism event to revive and showcase the best in tourism and hospitality around Gqeberha and the surrounding areas, promoting service providers, destinations and entertainment.
Took place at the Boardwalk Exhibition Centre, on the 1st and 2nd of October 2022 the Huge Expo organizers welcomed more than 30 stalls who were showcasing their products and services, from hotels to guesthouses, B&Bs, Lodges and Game Reserve owners. Amongst the stalls and businesses exhibited as advertisers it was one Walmer Tourism Forum, Makro, The Willows Holiday Resort and Conference Centre, Mthwakazi's Kitchen, Tsitsikama Lodge and Spa and more - the variety of stalls was of course dominated by the tourism and hospitality focused businesses. During day 1 the Expo saw about: Total Visitors = 312
Total Feet including access cards, visitors and invited guests = 674.
Talking to some of the exhibitors from different companies, most have agreed that the event was necessary to have, especially after Covid as it reminds the public who is providing which services and from where, at the same time the gathering was an exceptional opportunity for businesses to network and get exposure to new audience and clients.
Familiar faces and the department of Tourism representatives were amongst the crowd to celebrate and experience the gathering: to name a few it was Shaun Van Eck from Discover Mandela Bay and Laduma Ngxokolo, the founder and director Maxhosa, who has recently opened his store in the new Boardwalk Mall.
One of the organizers Duwayne Putter reported that day 2 of the weekend saw an increase in numbers and visitors, with a total Visitors of 694, and a total feet including access cards, visitors & invited guests of 866. Attendees were entertained by some of the Algoa Fm presenters, including competition and giveaways from lots of accommodation businesses and others, of those it was the Gqeberha's stunning and relaxing accommodation with beach view facilities The Willows resort, who ran a notable giveaway over the weekend where 42 lucky winners won a 2 nights stay in their double rondavel for up to 5 people out of season, while they also gave away 10%, 30% and 50% off vouchers to many of the attendees who participated on their competition.
On the other side, the Huge Expo team also presents an opportunity to give back to the community to all potential partners, as they will be launching the HUGE Fund. The Fund itself will obtain its funds from profits made during The Huge Expo and possible partners! The Huge fund will place unemployed youth who show a keen interest in the hospitality and tourism industry into a 6-month long training program where they will be trained in various departments within the hospitality and tourism sector. In return, they will receive a stipend which will be used for transport, pocket money, personal hygiene/care and providing some form of stability in the homes they come from. The program will include workshops which will include budgeting, work readiness, workplace behaviour and CV/Interview Skills. The main aim is to secure employment for each trainee after their 6-month program.
The overall weekend experience of the Huge Expo was pleasing, well organized and worth having a second annual. The space was very safe, great hospitality from the whole Huge Expo team, interesting small enterprises that we hardly see on the mainstream of business expo's and of course all businesses who participated well represented themselves and were there to give the attendees enough information about their services and products.
From us, we wish to see the Expo grow and become a home to more hospitality and tourism businesses, and continue giving the Gqeberha residents a safe space to learn and know more about the industry.