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Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director
General, Dubai World Trade Centre
A record 385,000 visitors to Exhibitions
at Dubai World Trade Centre Venues;
Busiest Month ever recorded in the Middle East..
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai will see the highest volume of exhibition visitors
ever-recorded in any Middle Eastern city this month, according
to figures released by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) today.
According to data gathered from the organisers of some of the
region’s most important exhibitions including GITEX, Big 5 and
Index, a total of 385,000 visitors will attend events at two of
Dubai World Trade Centre’s leading venues, Dubai International
Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) and Airport Expo
Centre.
This high volume of visitors is creating organisational
challenges, such as traffic pressure and strong demand for hotel
rooms, but also has a major economic impact for local suppliers
and tourism companies, according to Helal Saeed Al Marri,
Director General, Dubai World Trade Centre.
“We have encountered phenomenal growth in the industry recently
and are continuing to witness the rapid evolution of the
exhibition sector, demonstrated by the records being set in
November 2006. Dubai has firmly positioned itself as the leading
venue in the Middle East and we have extensive plans to
consolidate this position and expand to meet the rapid increase
in business,” said Al Marri.
Following on from Big 5 in October, DWTC venues will host a
number of leading events, including Index, Gitex, Gulfcomms and
Gitex Shopper, all attracting tens of thousands of visitors.
An estimated 385,000 visitors are expected to attend exhibitions
hosted at DWTC venues throughout November. Added to other
smaller shows set to run in November, the combined volume of
visitors is set to make it Dubai’s busiest month on record.
For example, GITEX, the Middle East’s largest and most
prestigious IT exhibition and among the world’s top three IT
exhibitions, is expected to attract as many as 150,000 people
when it is held later this month, with 12,000 exhibitors
representing more than 2,200 companies from 61 countries.
Each of these shows generates substantial benefits for the UAE
economy, with revenue for local companies – such as hotels,
restaurants, entertainment, retail and transportation – often
matching or exceeding that generated by the event itself.
Figures from DWTC’s own Economic Impact study suggest that over
50 percent of revenue generated by exhibitions goes directly to
tourism companies.
In order to help sustain this impressive economic expansion,
DWTC has extended the DICEC’s facilities by 15,000 sq.m this
month with the opening of the Za’abeel Hall and construction is
soon to commence on the new 120,000 sq.m exhibition facility in
Exhibition City at Jebel Ali.
New measures introduced for the 2006 event season include
congestion management processes designed to reduce bottlenecks
around the event venues – even though the number of cars has
increased – and a hotel liaison service, where DWTC is working
directly with a range of hotel groups to secure hotel rooms for
visitors to major events.
Although executives recognise that the ongoing success of Dubai
as a venue for exhibitions is causing some short-term issues,
lessons learned from the management of high volumes of traffic
and visitors are feeding into the development strategy for the
Dh 8 billion Exhibition City, which is being built as a
long-term solution to cater for the world’s largest and most
prestigious exhibitions.
“Our design team for the new facility in Exhibition City is
building all the experiences we’ve had running DICEC and Airport
Expo into their development plan. Whereas demand for business
hotel accommodation is currently outstripping supply in 2006,
the new facility will be co-located with a range of new hotels,
to reduce pressure on Dubai’s accommodation facilities. Equally,
everything we’ve learned about traffic management and parking
policies is being built into the road and parking space plan for
Exhibition City,” he concluded.
Dubai holds the number one position in the Middle East’s events
market, hosting approximately 2,350 corporate meetings,
exhibitions and conventions last year, according to figures from
Dubai Tourism Authority.
The UAE’s exhibitions and conference sector was worth Dh 12
billion in 2005, with an annual growth rate of 15 percent in
terms of event space and visitors.
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