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20 Jan 2009Expo: Johannesburg Expo Centre Buys Back Rand Show Brand
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The Johannesburg Expo Centre and Kagiso Exhibitions and Events, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kagiso Media, have concluded a deal whereby the Expo Centre has bought back the Rand Show brand, which it had sold to Kagiso in 2000.
This year Kagiso Exhibitions and Events was to have relocated the 114-year-old Rand Show from Expo Centre, Nasrec, to Gallagher Estate, while Expo Centre is staging the Joburg Easter Festival at its venue over the Easter holiday period.
The deal follows a decision by Kagiso Media to wind down its wholly owned Kagiso Exhibitions and Events subsidiary through the disposal of its assets and trading entities.
“We believe the deal to sell the Rand Show brand to the Johannesburg Expo Centre is in the best interests of the South African exhibition industry, as it will eliminate confusion among both exhibitors and visitors. Furthermore, the Rand Show in its current format is custom-designed for the Expo Centre venue, so it can be staged without any disruption to the exhibitor and visitor base over the Easter holidays,” says Murphy Morobe, Chairperson of KEE and CEO of Kagiso Media.
“Through an in-house activations and new-business opportunities capability, Kagiso Media will continue to pursue a number of dynamic opportunities in the events arena that are more aligned to the revenue generation interests of Kagiso Media and the Kagiso Group as a whole.
“These will include various opportunities around the FIFA 2010 World Cup. To this end we intend to maintain appropriate capacity necessary to continue with the implementation of these specific initiatives and fulfillment of other existing contractual obligations,” adds Murphy Morobe.
“We are delighted that we have been able to conclude this deal with Kagiso Media as the Johannesburg Expo Centre has been the traditional site for the Rand Show since 1984 when it moved from Milpark, under the ownership of the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society,” added the CEO of Expo Centre, Craig Newman.
“We will now incorporate the Rand Show in our new offering, the Joburg Easter Festival which will be staged from 3-13 April 2009. In essence, this will create an entirely reinvigorated Easter entertainment offering for Joburg, including the new entities of the Joburg Easter festival, while at the same time retaining some of the closely held traditions and visitor following of the 114-year old Rand Show brand.
Since then Expo Centre management has decided to get involved itself in the organisation of exhibitions and events through its associated company, Dogan Trading. The collective experience of the team involved in the day-to-day running of Expo Centre, as well as those at Dogan Trading, is extensive and goes back more than 30 years in the exhibition industry.
“The Johannesburg Expo Centre, through Dogan Trading, has entered the business of organising exhibitions and events with the staging of Automechanika South Africa and the co-hosted Joburg Transport Expo on March 18-21 and the Joburg Easter Festival the next month. The Expo Centre has plans to progressively increase the number of exhibitions and events it owns and operates,” says Craig Newman.
Expo Centre has been confirmed to host the 2010 International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) and will be the nerve centre for the more than 2 500 of the media representatives that are expected to be here for the 2010 World Cup and who will deliver the event to a viewership of more than 30 billion.
Significant upgrades and refurbishment, of approximately R60-million, and done in conjunction with the city of Johannesburg and the Local Organising Committee of World Cup 2010 will be made at Expo Centre itself. This includes installation of high tech IT systems required for ultra high speed communication transmission and extensive landscaping.
The facility offers 45 000 m2 of covered exhibition space and another 80 000m2 of outdoor multi-purpose space, besides, importantly, secure parking for up to 20 000 vehicles.
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