Welcome to SAACI

Adriaan Liebetrau
Chief Executive Officer

Having worked in the hospitality industry from secondary school and completing his studies at the University of Johannesburg, Adriaan have a list of achievements behind his name. He has worked for both Protea Hospitality and Peermont Hotels Casinos and Resorts in various fields ranging from development project manager, general manager and hotel and resort operations manager. He then headed up the Conferencing and Events division of Travel with Flair and also served on the SAACI board as Director before joining the Association as its Chief Executive in May 2014.

Networking tips for young professionals

Lerisha Meduliar - Western Cape
Wesgro / Future Focus pillar

In 2012 she joined the Cape Town & Western Cape Convention Bureau and sadly departed ways with SAACI as their secretariat. She is part of the dynamic team, which promotes Cape Town & the Western Cape internationally as one of the preferred business tourism destinations. She also serves on the CPUT Academic Advisory Board. Lerisha believes that having the opportunity to live in a culturally diverse society has empowered and enriched her with a vast reservoir of knowledge to deal with individual differences and promote the Western Cape. 

The Meeting and Events Industry:
All fired up?

Rashid Toefy
Managing Director, MCI Africa 

Before joining MCI, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), from 2008 to 2014, positioning it as a global leader in sustainability. He has worked extensively in the travel and tourism industry, both in South Africa and abroad. He spent three years based in Amsterdam, developing business and marketing strategies for travel companies and tourism businesses in over 30 countries, working extensively in Central Europe and Latin America.  

Destination: tech@saaci Chaperone

Kurt Johnson
Director, AV Alliance 

Kurt Johnson Partner and Managing Director of AV Alliance has over a decade worth of experience in the Events industry.  Kurt strives very hard to build meaningful, long-term and trusting relationships that help create that moment of magic for his clients.  He enjoys coming up with innovative ideas and solutions to assist his clients in their everyday needs. 

Event Planning 101

Liezel Short 
Event and Entertainment Manager: Red Hot Events

Liezel earned her stripes (literally) as a Captain in the South African National Defence Force, Liezel has channelled her natural ability for creating order and harmony into her role at Red Hot Events, with predictably outstanding results. As a trained Combat Logistician and having time done managing Hospitality during her time served in the Armed Forces, Liezel’s personality as a punctual perfectionist has found the ideal outlet in pairing the right performance with a matching event. With an unorthodox eye for original combinations that create lasting impressions, Liezel’s touch of magic brings sound & sight together in a dazzling balance.

Enter the Industry to leave a legacy

Mariette du Toit-Helmbold
Chief Destineer, Destinate