The next conference will be held in Beijing, China on 17-19 September 2025 #ICE2025
This conference will encompass presentations and workshops where participants will bring their expertise to create new waves of support for reimagining of events post Covid-19. Within the context of exploring new frontiers in festivals and events, this conference will examine a variety of contemporary global issues in events and festivals, combining academic discipline with professional practice. The conference also now includes a specific track on events education, as the conference partners with the Tourism Educators of South Africa (TESA) association.
Once accepted, authors choose to present either physically in Cape Town or virtually online. The virtual component of the conference will go ahead regardless of local conditions and regulations related to gatherings.
You are invited to submit an abstract based on the conference themes below.
Key dates:
Abstract submission deadline:
Friday, 6 August 2021 (final extension)
Confirmation of abstract acceptance:
Friday, 3 September 2021
Full paper submission (optional):
Friday, 15 October 2021
Early bird registration:
Friday, 17 September 2021
Conference partner
TESA is an association of academic professionals representing higher education institutions offering tourism, hospitality and event management related programmes in South Africa. TESA is committed to advancing the quality of tourism and hospitality related education and research.
Best Paper Award
In loving memory of our old friend and conference co-organiser Dr Mathilda Van Niekerk from Rosen College of Hospitality at the University of Central Florida, United States, we dedicate our conference best paper in her name - Dr Mathilda Van Niekerk Best Paper Award
Full paper submission
Full papers must be submitted by email to dino@iftm.edu.mo, addressed to Dr Ubaldino Couto, Chair of the Scientific Committee no later than Friday, 15 October 2021. Submitting a full paper is optional, but only full papers are considered for the Best Paper Award. All papers are double-blind reviewed; revised papers are published on the conference proceedings with an ISSN.
Best papers are invited to submit to our partner journals for an expedited review. Note that this does not guarantee an acceptance from the journals.
Conference host
The conference is hosted by Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The hybrid conference is held both physically in beautiful Cape Town and simultaneous online sessions.
Conference venue
The conference is held at the Radisson Red Cape Town Hotel, which is the official conference hotel.
R1550 B&B rate, incl VAT excl 1% tourism levy
Use the following codes to book:
ICE 2021 Group (CPUT)
Confirmation: 1503960
Enquiries by email to keenan.strauss@radissonred.com.
All delegates must adhere to the COVID-19 regulations. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will not be able to visit the CPUT campuses. The situation may allow certain activities be held on campus as crowd gathering g
Radisson RED, No. 6 Silo, Silo Square, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, Western Cape 8001, South Africa
Keynote Speakers and Panel Sessions
Keynote Addresses
Dr Bernadette Quinn
Technological University Dublin, Ireland
Dr Quinn has a number of research interests and has published extensively about arts festivals, being interested in the roles that they play in transforming places and in shaping community and place identities. She studies heritage studies, particularly in understanding how memories are constructed and represented in heritage settings; and how children experience heritage.
Prof Leonardo Dioko
Macao Institute for Tourism Studies,
Macao SAR, China
Prof Dioko is Director of IFTM Tourism Research Centre and is specialised in marketing and management. His research interests span across tourism and events, in particular destination branding and tourism marketing, assessing and managing the impacts of rapid tourism growth, sustainable issues in tourism, hospitality and events.
Research Panel
This panel of outstanding journal editors will discuss trends in events research, advice to authors submitting to these journals and their role in how the academic community shape the future of research.
Prof Fevzi Okumus
University of Central Florida, USA
Prof Okumus is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and Editor of Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights.
Prof Amanda Cecil
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
Professor Cecil is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Convention & Event Tourism.
Dr Michael Duignan
University of Surrey, UK
Dr Duignan is the Editior-in-Chief of journal Event Management.
Industry Panel
The industry panel will discuss a range of topics related to events in South Africa, the challenges and opportunities facing the country and its role in developing one of the fastest growing destinations in Africa.
Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo
Chief Convention Bureau Officer South African National Convention Bureau (SANCB)
Amanda will be sharing with us some strategic-level insights of the business events sector in South Africa!
Esmaré Steinhöfel
Regional Director (Africa) International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA)
Esmaré will share her work and experience at ICCA, as well as its role in developing South Africa's conference sector.
Corne Koch
Head of Cape Town Convention Bureau
Corne will share the journey of making Cape Town the premier event destination of South Africa.
FIFA World Cup - Qatar 2022
We are honoured to have a panel of experts who will be talk about the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the conference. They will focus on legacy, human rights and workers’ welfare.
Dr Kamilla Swart
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
Dr Kamilla was instrumental in developing the 2010 FIFA World Cup Research Agenda and served as the City of Cape Town’s Research Coordinator for 2010. Her work has been focused on contributing to sport, tourism and event knowledge in the developing context,
and in the global South in particular. She co-edited “Legacies and mega-events: Facts or fairytales” published by Routledge.
Prof Ray Jureidini
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
Ray Jureidini is professor of migration ethics and human rights at the Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar. His human and labor rights based scholarship and activism centers on forced labour, human trafficking, labour recruitment and migrant labour reform advocacy in the Middle East.
Prof Zachary R Calo
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
Prof Calo holds numerous teaching and research positions in many universities worldwide. He specialises in law and his practice areas include sports law, dispute resolution and mediation.
Olympic Games
This panel of leading academic experts from Tokyo, Paris and Rio de Janeiro will showcase their experiences and research on the Olympics with a focus on sustainability, recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the future of the Games.
Dr Daichi Oshimi
Tokai University, Tokyo, Japan
Dr Oshimi is specialised in socio-economic aspects of sport events, particularly on impacts and leveraging of sport events and their meaning for host communities. Dr Oshimi will share with us residents' perceptions towards the Tokyo Olympics.
Dr Billy Graeff
Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil
Dr Graeff is specialised in the sociology of sports and Olympic studies. He is part of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), the International Olympic Academy Participants Association (IOAPA) and the Latin American Association of Sociocultural Studies of Sport (ALESDE). As a scholar-activist, Billy endeavours to connect his academic work to struggles around the world for social justice and human development.
Prof Marie Delaplace
Gustave Eiffel University, Paris, France
Marie Delaplace is specialised in planning and regional development at the Gustave Eiffel University (Parisian school of urban planning; Lab’Urba). She has published extensively on high-speed rail, tourism, events and mega-events. She co-founded the Observatory for Research on Mega-events in 2018 and co-manages the Research Group City, tourism, Transport and Territory of the LabEX (Excellence Laboratory) Urban Futures.
Organising Committee
Dr Brendon Knott
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Cape Town, South Africa
Conference Chair
Lara van Zyl
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Cape Town, South Africa
Local organising committee
Esti Venske
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Cape Town, South Africa
Local organising committee
Dr Julie Whitfield
Bournemouth University
United Kingdom
ICE2013 Chair | Co-Founder of ICE
Dr Ubaldino Couto
Macao institute for Tourism Studies
Macao SAR, China
ICE2015 Chair
Dr Jeannie Hahm
University of Central Florida
United States
ICE2017 Co-Chair
Cape Town calling!
Cape Town is ready! For latest travel advice to Cape Town, click on the link below.
We are following closely local health and safety guidelines related to the covid-19 pandemic.
Conference Sponsors
