Home of Conference About East London The conference will be hosted at the Regent Hotel, situated on the East London beachfront. With an exceptionally favourable climate, warm hospitality, excellent cuisine and an unhurried atmosphere, make East London an ideal destination. The city's numerous tourist attractions and sound infrastructure offer ample opportunity for recreational activities and business.  The strategic location and position as gateway to the Sunshine Coast and Country, the Wild Coast and Amatola Region allows easy access to a diversity of uniquely attractive landscapes, historically and culturally rich living heritage and natural treasures. East London is booming! A flood of recent investments has launched this newly-created city on an exciting new path of industrial and tourism development. Incentives luring investors to the area are exceptional and of international standards. Local business has committed itself to the further betterment of the infrastructure to make the area even more attractive. East London is conveniently situated in the geographic centre of the Eastern Cape. It is equidistant from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban - South Africa's three major centres. East London is the only River Port City in South Africa and is also perfectly placed internationally, allowing for convenient trade with the rest of Africa and with the global markets of Asia, the Americas and Europe. A globally competitive network of infrastructure (upgraded road, rail, port and airport facilities) facilitates trading, communications and access throughout the area. The city offers the most temperate climate in South Africa and has adequate and enjoyable tourist attractions and facilities. East London is regarded as the hub and destination city of the popular Eastern Cape Tourism Routes, namely the Sunshine Coast & Country, the Wild Coast and the Friendly N6. The city and surrounds are teeming with wildlife and are steeped in unique Xhosa culture, both critical selling features for South Africa. Tourism, as a service industry to East London, is still in its infancy in relation to the industrial strength of the City, spearheaded principally by DaimlerChrysler South Africa and the motor component industry. Yet tourism has tremendous potential. Recent tourism product development includes wildlife reserves and game parts, attractive accommodation, spectacular restaurants and a variety of adventure activities. The Wild Coast Region and Transkei, Madiba's home, hold a fascination for many and epitomize the rural ambiance of the Eastern Cape within close proximity of the city. Our coastline presents enormous potential for tourism and attracts a diverse market from family holidays to extreme adventure. The area's status as a game and wildlife destination was enhanced with the creation and the continuous development of the Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve near Cintsa. The rich cultural heritage and exceptional natural assets of our Region set it apart from the rest of South Africa and provide unique tourism development investment opportunities. It is indeed the destination to 'complete the authentic African experience'. The visitors to the City still comprise a 95% domestic market with a 5% international component. Both markets are steadily growing, the latter due mainly to business traffic and the tenacious backpackers. The core user groups of the city are sport groups, conference groups, business travel, government related business, domestic holiday makers and valuable cruise ship day visits. The possibility of running an air charter company from the Eastern Cape is being investigated. Direct flights between Europe and the Eastern Cape will decrease the price of tour packages dramatically and earn the region the status of being a 'global destination'. Upmarket four and five star accommodation, decent conference facilities and the positioning of East London as core to the Xhosa culture are vital in the development of opportunities for gregarious tourism. In order to create a united spirit and vision, the city embarked on a concerted drive to use the Millennium hype to promote various activities and events through a unique logo and slogan "East London 2000 Phambili (Forward)". This will be the rallying banner under which the 21st century events will run. In East London the Esplanade and Beachfront development have created a new focus area for the city and include a 1,000 seater conference venue in the Regent Hotel. The new Hemingways Casino, owned by Tsogo Sun, provides massive infrastructural development for the city and a cornucopia of entertainment for our visitors. The Port of East London expansion will open up many opportunities for small, tourism-orientated businesses and the Port is visited by increasing numbers of luxury cruise liners. Development plans have been formulated for the entire Beachfront and the Marina Glen has been identified as a prime site for multi-use development. The 'Sleeper Site', linking the CBD of East London and the Esplanade, provides massive tracts of land in an enviable situation. Completed projects include the Vincent Park expansion, the new Beacon Bay shopping complex, various office park developments and new accommodation and restaurant facilities. Apart from product development, a growing number of visiting sport and conference groups enjoy the easily accessible facilities the city has to offer, creating sustainability for many tourism services. In King William's Town, areas have been identified for development with the aim of attracting commercial, industrial and institutional activities. Future activity corridors will link King William's Town with neighbouring Bisho and Zwelitsha, facilitating the growth and development of business and enterprise. East London's Climate East London enjoys a moderate climate, with few extremes in temperature and is generally sunny and pleasant. Winters usually mild, although snow falls on the mountain ranges of the Cape and Natal and occasionally in the lower-lying areas, when a brief cold spell can be expected throughout the country. Since South Africa lies South of  the Equator, these seasons are the reverse of those in the Northern Hemisphere.