Exhibitor loyalty towards the Tourism Indaba: an exploratory study

This pilot research project examines the reasons behind exhibitor loyalty to the Tourism Indaba, which is hosted at the Durban International Convention Center annually. Ten exhibitors were interviewed through self administered questionnaires which were sent out via e-mail. The researcher had predicted that other exhibitors had stopped attending the exhibition due to: political instability; xenophobia; and competition from other travel trade shows. However, it turns out that these reasons have no effect on the loyalty of the exhibitors who still attend the event, suggesting that exhibitor loyalty to the Tourism Indaba will remain the same as long as the exhibition still servers its purpose to the companies that they represent.