Dubai's popularity as Mice destination grows

The Dubai World Trade Centre hosted 298 Mice and business events in 2016.

Dubai has retained its crown as the most popular destination for trade shows and exhibitions in the Middle East, with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) driving the emirate's popularity among international and regional trade visitors.

DWTC's continued growth in international participation reaffirms the strength of its diversified calendar of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (Mice), and is an endorsement of the company's global reputation and contribution to Dubai's positioning as a pivotal business hub. The hub posted an 11 per cent year-on-year footfall increase in 2016, attracting attendance from 185 countries with 51,711 exhibiting companies, of which nearly 70 per cent were foreign exhibitors.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, deputy chairman of the board of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority, said the destination had crossed a major milestone in visitation traffic by hosting 3.03 million delegates and attendees to events at its venue. He noted that DWTC's 2016 results have reiterated Dubai's attractiveness for exhibiting companies and trade delegates from every corner of the globe.

Speaking on the importance of the Mice sector for Dubai's economy, he said: "Today, we continue to leverage our unique geographic positioning and the strength of the entire portfolio of DWTC businesses to collectively raise Dubai's profile as a critical node on the new global silk road, by building the profile of the DWTC events programme, increasing the variety and number of events, improving the venue occupancy and accelerating regional and international visitations."

Through 2016, DWTC's Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) venue hosted 298 Mice and business events, including over 100 mega-events, delivering a record 3.03 million attendees, delegates and visitors to these events, reflecting double digit year-on-year increase over 2015 traffic. With international participants growing four per cent each across the number of visitors and the number of exhibiting companies, DWTC's venue welcomed over 1.05 million foreign business travellers to Dubai last year, representing 45 per cent of its overall mega-event participant volumes.

In addition, 35,526 foreign exhibiting companies from 185 countries participated at events in DWTC accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total exhibitor base, further contributing to the rise in Mice contribution to business tourism volumes and consequently driving up the wider economic impact generated for Dubai. The primary source for visitors continued to be dominated by the proximity markets and Europe - Saudi Arabia, India, Oman, Iran, UK, Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan.

Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO of DWTC, spoke about how DWTC is well-positioned to continue to aggressively pursue a strategic innovation agenda. "We are confident in the resilience of the DWTC portfolio today, to catapult greater growth acceleration over the next three years, sustainably driving GDP contribution from the Mice sector as a key economic driver for Dubai."

- rohma@khaleejtimes.com