Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau, has reported strong results for the first half of 2017, with 97 bids submitted to host business events being successfully awarded to the city.
The events secured since January, including conferences, exhibitions, meetings and incentive trips, are poised to attract over 51,636 delegates from around the world, resulting in an expected economic impact of approximately AED 375 million.
Commenting on the H1 results, Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said “Dubai has grown tremendously to become a leading destination for international business events”.
“We recognise the significance of the business events industry, and acknowledge the various growth facets each event brings to the city. Not only do they accelerate our journey towards becoming a knowledge-sharing economy, but business events are also major contributors towards our goal of welcoming 20 million visitors each year by 2020.”
In the first six months, Dubai Business Events won a total of 97 pitches to host business events in the city, and is currently awaiting verdict on 97 more that have been submitted. Key wins include: Baby Care Annual Incentive (2018), World Conference on Desalination and Water Re-Use (2019), and Congress of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (2022).
Dubai Business Events has also ramped up efforts to highlight the city’s business events offering to international audiences. DBE representatives have attended over 50 trade events in the first half of the year, interacting with over 4,500 business events buyers and planners. The bureau has also facilitated a total of 16 site inspections with 38 clients, and hosted 144 buyers from around the world as part of four in-depth Dubai study missions.
Steen Jakobsen, Director of Dubai Business Events, said “We’ve had a stellar start to the year, and are well on our way to achieving our targets set for 2017.”
“We are also focusing on expanding our network and reach globally, enabling businesses, event buyers and planners to benefit from our expertise.”
Recently, Dubai was named as one of the top 10 destinations for international meetings by Union of International Associations (UIA) in its latest edition of the International Meetings Statistics Report published last month. The city previously ranked 14th in the 2015 edition, and moved up the list with a total of 180 meetings taking place in 2016.
