CAPITAL: The Voice of Business Issue 2, 2016 | Page 49
Almost 200 000 people visit the Royal Show every year of residents and visitors in the city . The RAS was formed in 1851 , just nine years after Pietermaritzburg itself was founded . To put that into context , that was before the world had motorcars or fridges , before women had the vote , and before South Africa had a Johannesburg . The society held its first show in the new town ’ s market square that year , and the Royal Show , as it came to be known , has been an annual event ever since . The show has grown from a oneday , strictly agricultural event to become the province ’ s premier mixed exhibition , held over 10 days . It is a landmark event on the region ’ s calendar today and is enjoyed by upwards of 180 000 visitors from all over the country . However , the society ’ s influence has grown into more than the Royal Show and the unquestioned contribution it makes to agricultural progress in the country . In 1976 it started the annual Garden Show , an event that is today the largest horticultural event in the southern hemisphere and one that has come to be known as South Africa ’ s “ Chelsea ”. This is not mere hyperbole either . “ Senior judges of the Chelsea Flower Show have commented that the Royal ’ s Garden Show is as good as the best in the world ,” says Strachan . Modelled on the Chelsea Flower Show , the Royal ’ s Garden Show attracts an impressive range of exhibitors , from municipalities and blue-chip companies to garden clubs and schools . It brings in around 20 000 visitors each year , with as many as a quarter of them from out of the province . Horticultural conventions are often hosted alongside the Garden Show at the Society ’ s showground complex , which at 12 hectares in size also operates as possibly the largest conference venue in KwaZulu-Natal . “ We believe that , with as many as 184 000 conference delegates using our facilities in 2014 , we may even be bigger than Durban ’ s ICC [ International Conference Centre ],” says Strachan . “ We are definitely one of the top-five largest conference and function venues in South Africa .” With a variety of venues , including fields , halls and smaller meeting rooms , the showgrounds complex can cater for events ranging from rock concerts to large banquets , to smaller company conferences with fewer than 40 delegates . Its 2 500-seat Olympia Hall , the largest facility of its kind in the KZN Midlands , has been chosen as the preferred venue for the opening of the KZN parliamentary session on at least four occasions ; for gala banquets that have included the President , cabinet members and foreign dignitaries as guests ; and for the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business ’ s ( PCB ) annual banquet . The showgrounds also play a significant social role in the city by hosting a wide range of community-related events — weddings , school and religious gatherings , conventions , and similar events — that would otherwise struggle to find suitable venues . In 2002 , Matrix , the development and project management company that also conducted the feasibility study for the ICC in Durban , prepared a report on the significance and contribution of the Society to the local , regional and provincial economies . It found that the Society and the showgrounds are responsible for importing significant “ non-displaced ” expenditure to the Msunduzi area ( i . e . revenue it generates is mainly imported and not merely redirected spend from elsewhere in the area ). This , Matrix found , contributes significantly to the local economy . The report estimated that the society itself created the equivalent of 167 direct jobs annually through the cash paid to employees and suppliers of services ; 353 direct jobs as a result of the various events held throughout the year ; and as many as 1 560 indirect jobs , for a total of some 2 000 jobs created in the Pietermaritzburg area . The report also added that “ the financial and organisational bases upon which these jobs are predicated appears to be sound ... suggesting dependability ”, and that “ the society has a long history of compatibility with its surrounds ... [ therefore ] the so-called ‘ positive externality effects ’ are very high ”. In fact , says Strachan , in 2012 Matrix concluded that the society ’ s contribution to the regional economy could be as high as R300M , by way of the multiplier effect . Today , that figure is significantly higher .