When Dubai dreams, it dares to dream big – and then, it turns that dream into reality. In 2020 the city hosts the World Expo, but it is the emirate’s plans beyond that, that will bring trade fair business to Dubai. That was the message the city’s key stakeholders were keen to impart to a 100-strong contingent of international meeting planners and business events journalists during its largest familiarisation trip, held over three days in September.
At a media briefing held at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, told CMW: “Dubai is a city that looks towards the future – it’s aspirational.”
And the exact nature of this aspiration is to become a premier meeting destination and in turn, increase the number of international exhibitions, conferences and events being held in the emirate.
This aspiration is not the only one Dubai is working towards. In 2013, Dubai’s Tourism Vision for 2020 was launched, which outlined a target of 20m visitors in 2020 and the years thereafter. While clearly ambitious targets, Dubai has no qualms about achieving them.
So what does this mean for the exhibition industry?
From speaking to many of Dubai’s key stakeholders; the message portrayed is one of optimism and renewed aspiration, with the belief that the city has well established itself as the destination of choice for exhibitions and global congresses in the region.
“Our appeal stems from our role as the business hub for global multinationals, our sophisticated facilities and infrastructure, and our unique geographic location at the centre of Europe, Asia and Africa,” says Ahmed Alkhaja, senior vice-president of venues at DWTC.
In terms of the strategy for attracting more exhibitions and events, Alkhaja said that with “further development as part of the vision for the emirate accelerating, and this being widely reported globally, we are already seeing yet more interest from organisers, corporates and association groups in bringing their trade and consumer shows, global congresses and conferences here in the coming years.”
It all adds to the overall contribution of business tourism to GDP of 20 per cent. With business visitor numbers sitting at 1.5m-2m, as part of the Tourism 2020 vision, the target is to grow this to three to four million.
Steen Jakobsen, Dubai Business Events director, outlines the three-pronged business events strategy:
1-Pursuing international events that rotate
Dubai Business Events will be targeting events that fall within the scientific and economic sectors which Dubai is strongest in, for example: medical, life sciences, engineering, logistics and retail, as well as sectors in which it wants to increase product knowledge.
2- Develop new homegrown events
Dubai will, over the next few years, develop its own regional events, with the aim of growing their international appeal. The main thrust of the strategy here is to identify a gap in the market and put a programme in place to develop an event. A homegrown diabetes event and one on cardiology are both expected to attract 700 – 1,000 people annually.
3- Acquire more visitors to the existing events
Dubai Business Events will be working more closely with organisations on content and marketing strategy to attract as many delegates as possible to events.
Attracting more association events is also a key focus following the creation of the Dubai Association Centre, a legal platform that enables associations to establish their regional headquarters in Dubai. The five-year strategy to increase the number of associations with a base in Dubai is in its early days, but is said to have been very positively received so far.
DWTC welcomed a record 2.2m visitors for various industry events, exhibitions and conferences in 2013 and to accommodate and support the increase in number and diversity of events, it expanded its facilities by adding a semi-permanent and niche venue capacity to the existing 98,000sqm covered space. The venue is also in the process of constructing the Dubai Trade Centre District, a 146,000sqm site adjacent to the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The first phase includes a mid-scale hotel of 588 rooms, which will complement the two existing business hotels currently on site, as well as three buildings with a target completion date for the first phase set for 2015.
The ongoing investment at DWTC will also help grow its existing portfolio of shows including the annual food trade show Gulfood, which attracted 4,500 exhibitors and 80,000 visitors this year, with a record 113,398sqm of exhibition space used. GITEX Technology Week, which took place over five days in October, saw more than 3,700 exhibitors showcasing the latest in technology to 35,000 trade visitors.
When 2014 comes to a close, DWTC will have hosted a total of 31 congresses, welcoming 60,000 delegates, and pumping AED602m (US$165m) into Dubai’s economy.
Expo 2020: creating a legacy
While development seems to be at the heart of Dubai, it is clear that the level and intensity of development has stepped up a notch since the UAE secured the rights to host Expo 2020.
“The speed of infrastructure development in Dubai is remarkable,” Simon Mellor, President at DMG Events Middle East and Asia tells CMW. “Throughout the economic crisis Dubai kept building, albeit things slowed, however the pace has increased and the skyline is again filled with cranes.
“There are many factors driving this demand, from the Government-backed tourism drive, to the successful positioning of Dubai as the Middle East’s trading hub, but Dubai’s successful bid to host the world Expo 2020 has certainly contributed to this growth and opens opportunities for the emirate.
“We will see large scale infrastructure development, not only for the event site itself, but across the city, as roads, services and hotels are all built to service the huge demand such an event puts upon a city – but Dubai is well placed to meet these demands.”
The Dubai Business Events team was keen to drive home the point that the many infrastructure projects put in place for Expo 2020, including the site itself, are as much for the Expo, as they are for the years post-2020.
“Preparation is ongoing for the expo in terms of content and infrastructure, but we want to make it clear that it is not only about the Expo but beyond that. It’s about how we can create a legacy from this substantial global event.”
Site readiness activity is currently underway on the Expo 2020 site, Dubai Trade Centre-Jebel Ali, a 438-hectare site that includes the dedicated 150-hectare Dubai Expo 2020 area and an additional surrounding residential, hospitality and logistics zone.
At its peak, the Dubai Expo exhibition site is expected to accommodate up to 300,000 visitors, with average weekday attendance expected to be 153,000.
Plans for the site post-Expo 2020 could see the majority of exhibitions move to here from DWTC.
While the 2020 expo may seem to be the pinnacle, it is clear from spending time in the city, that this event is just a point in the journey of Dubai’s development as a premier destination for exhibitions and events.
This was first published in issue 78 of CMW. Any comments? Email Zoe Vernor
