Exhibition Industry Sustaining Dubai’s Tourism Sector

Dubai’s peak exhibition season, which began in early September with the Arab Oil & Gas exhibition, continues to strengthen Dubai’s tourism sector, bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors and exhibitors to a range of events, and fuel demands for hotel accommodations, restaurant services and other travel and tourist services.

Since September 15, the Dubai World Trade Centre exhibition complex has hosted eight major exhibitions including Premium, Gulf Beauty, Arab Hunting, Motexha, Index and Arabshop. In addition, the Gitex exhibition is around the corner, and exhibitor participation in this event is stronger than ever, with more than 600 exhibitors representing 35 countries and some 1,500 companies.

“Dubai’s exhibition sector is a key factor in its overall tourism thrust, and we are delighted that our efforts have not been undermined by current events. In fact, we have welcomed a huge delegation of international participants at all the major events which have been held at the Dubai World Trade Centre and Airport Expo Dubai complexes since the high season started at the beginning of September,” said Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Corporate Manager, Exhibitions of the DWTC.

This coupled with the throngs of visitors attracted to the furniture and interior design exhibition Index, which opened on October 3, is helping to sustain Dubai’s tourism sector following world events that have other tourism regions struggling to survive.

The Middle East’s foremost information technology fair Gitex 2001, to be held from 14-18 October, will also give a healthy boost to Dubai’s tourism sector. The number of Gitex pre-registrants has already more than doubled the total reached during the event in 2000, and with several days to go (pre-registration closes at the end of Wednesday, October 10), organisers say the success of the event is guaranteed. To date, more than 40,000 individuals have pre-registered through the online service at www.gitex.com.