SAs first exclusive procurement travel summit

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Africa’s first independently owned and peer-led event for South African procurement professionals, Procure Travel Africa, is on track and scheduled to take place in Cape Town on 27 August at The Vineyard Hotel.

The event is expected to attract some of the country’s most influential procurement leaders who will lead relevant and significant discussion topics, including best practices and insights around their approach to travel sourcing.

Summit Director Riana Fouché, says these are companies that have a consolidated annual travel expenditure of approximately R1 billion making this one-day event the largest and most significant of its kind on the continent.

The event will allow robust conversations, facilitate interactive panel discussions and learnings from peers which will equip buyers with the tools and tactics to take them beyond just cost savings.

2019 was a year of innovation and dynamic change in the business travel sector with technology continuing to disrupt and reshape how business travellers plan and book their trips. Sarie Homan, Head of the Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply (CIPS SA), says “the event will provide a valuable platform in an African context to encourage collaboration and sharing between procurement practitioners and solution providers.”

In the face of more stringent corporate financial controls, travel still remains one of the largest and most controllable corporate expenses.

“As buyers we need to look at information differently and make more informed choices around our operations and suppliers,” says Clicks Group Limited’s Head of Procurement & Facilities, Wally Bouland.

Fouché agrees it is time to rethink the way we purchase business travel.

“As new technologies and business models emerge, sustainability in procurement interactions is now seen as both a challenge and an opportunity. Taking a progressive approach by creating value through the empowerment and support of buyers and redesigning processes therefore becomes imperative,” she concludes.