Hospitality, leisure play pivotal role in Dubai's economy: Experts

After officially opening the exhibitions, Majid Saif Al Ghurair was given a tour of the show floor by Event Director Gary Williams.

The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show, opened on Saturday, are expected to attract 30,000 visitors in three days.
Majid Saif Al Ghurair, chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, launched the 2016 hosting of both the shows, which are also co-located for the first time this year with Piscine Middle East.
After officially opening the exhibitions, Al Ghurair was given a tour of the show floor by Event Director Gary Williams, during which he met leading representatives from the sectors that play a pivotal role in maintaining Dubai's growing economy.
Issam Kazim, chief executive officer of the Dubai Corporation of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said of the annual Hotel Show, now in its 17th year: "Providing valuable networking opportunities for hoteliers and industry professionals offers Dubai an ideal platform for the city to showcase its diverse accommodation portfolio, ranging from luxury five-star resorts to mid-market hotels and more. .. Dubai's hotel inventory continues to grow and expand month by month, in line with sustainable targets to ensure Dubai retains its competitiveness and attractiveness to international travellers."
Touching on The Leisure Show, now entering its 4th edition, Kazim said the leisure industry is a vital component of Dubai's ever-expanding destination offering and plays a key role in ensuring that the city is at the forefront when it comes to attracting the global traveller over and above other destinations.
"Throughout 2016 the Emirate continues to build on the pillar with a host of recently opened family attractions enhancing the emirate's proposition including Dubai Opera and IMG Worlds of Adventure - and plenty more to come, such as Dubai Safari and Dubai Parks and Resorts, expected to come on line before the end of the year. The expansion and diversification of the city's unique selling points, combined with the growing hotel portfolio ensures that Dubai remains a destination of choice, and critically encourages greater length of stay and repeat visitation."
At The Hotel Show, The Leisure Show and Piscine Middle East, thousands of global suppliers will showcase everything needed to build, develop and maintain hotels and leisure facilities across the region.
Gary Williams, Event Director of the dmg events hospitality portfolio including The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show, said: "In line with the Tourism Vision for 2020, our events are providing local and international suppliers and owners of hotels and leisure facilities with the unique opportunity to do business in a world-class destination that is investing heavily in the future of hospitality. This year, we have added more features to our line-up than ever before to provide more opportunities for networking, knowledge and ideas sharing, and trendsetting for the industry."
Noemi Petit, Event Director at GL events, organisers of Piscine Middle East, said: "Our showcase of the latest swimming pools, spa features, equipment and accessories, is from all over the world including as far afield as Canada and Australia - as the world looks to Dubai as a lucrative market for this industry."
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com