BRAND PROFILE: Dubai Convention Bureau

Dubai Convention Bureau will celebrate its 10th anniversary in February, and its director Jerad Bachar tells Hotelier why there hasn’t been a better time for hotels to sit up and take notice of MICE

One positive outcome of the 2008 financial crisis was that hotel companies “started taking notice” of the importance of meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) tourism, says Jerad Bachar, director of the Dubai Convention Bureau.

“When times are good, the MICE industry is not desirable, but when it’s bad, everyone knocks on the door of the MICE organisers. And they are very aware of that,” Bachar explains.

“They know when it’s a seller’s market, they’re at a disadvantage; when it’s a buyer’s market, they’re king of the hill. So hotel companies here have realised not to ignore the MICE segment when times are good, but that it has to be part of a long-term sustainable strategy.”

More than anyone, Bachar understands the relationship between conventions, organisers and hotels — he began his career in North America, finally joining Marriott, where he was director of sales in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

From this position, he was head hunted by the city to become its national sales director for the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau. In March 2008 he headed East to join the Dubai Convention Bureau and has since worked to enhance the emirate’s MICE offering.

Partnerships
A year after Bachar’s appointment, Dubai Convention Bureau introduced the Dubai Bid Alliance.
Under this formalised partnership with the Dubai World Trade Centre, Emirates Airline and 52 of the city’s hotels, they visit destinations and pitch for large congresses and conventions to come to Dubai.

“The hotels are always present on our sales missions and exhibitions. We also have study missions bringing clients in — they’re willing to host them, and they are very strong partners of ours,” he says.

In 2011, 34 international association meetings were held in Dubai, with business leads and conversion rates up over a third.

Later this year, it is hosting the Conference on International Telecommunications, the Global Standards Symposium and The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, all within a three-week period, and with the total number of delegates expected to exceed 11,000.

Next year, an event for Sibos — the organisation which controls SWIFT codes for financial transactions — is already booked for Dubai.

“That’s an 8000 person congress that will really impact the destination, and we plan to keep them here on a more permanent basis,” Bachar says. However, he adds that it has just lost a nuclear convention to Abu Dhabi, simply because of the nuclear plant being built there, and congresses go where their related businesses are.

“It’s the same when you look at any other region where they have similar sized cities and similar caches — New York and Washington DC. Just because New York is holding really large scale congresses, that doesn’t mean that Washington DC can’t as well” he adds.

“From a Middle East standpoint, we need to continue to build the reputation of the region. One of the biggest perception problems we have is that we’re sitting in the middle of an area that has experienced a lot of changes in the past two to three years, so I think destinations need to work together to promote the region,” explains Bachar.

“There’s no reason why Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and some of the other cities in this area that are aggressively going after this market couldn’t collaborate more to help increase the profile of the region.

“I think that in every destination, what they need to do is figure out what its strengths are and what business sectors they’re successful in,” he says. “There are around 13,000 international business congresses that rotate around the world — out of those, which are the ones most likely to come to your destination? That’s what we do – we focus on the events that have the highest probability of booking.”

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Hotel Issues
One of the main limitations hindering Dubai currently is the hotel market, admits Bachar. “Dubai World Trade Centre is fantastic, they are very flexible and they do whatever they can to compete on a global scale from a pricing and value standpoint, but some companies are really looking for big hotels, and we don’t have them yet.”

Bachar explains that Dubai is suffering from a lack of ‘transitional hotels’ — those which are capable of self containing congresses which could go up to 2000 delegates. “Just to say we have 700-odd hotels and hotel apartments here is one thing, but you really have to look at the dynamics of the hotels that are interested in this business.”

“Most [congresses] are in that 500 to 1500-delegate range – they are forced to go into a convention centre,” he says.

“In North America, Europe and coming up in Asia, there are lots of hotels that can self-contain those events,” Bachar explains. “A hotel is sometimes a more affordable option, as you’re able to give them revenue from the room, F&B and outlets, whereas a convention centre is dependent on rental and food and beverage and insularly revenues.”

The first big transitional hotel will be the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai. “A lot of our hotel options are there for 500 delegates, but getting above 1000, options are limited, so this will add a completely new dimension. The Conrad will also have a vast amount of convention space, which will be great as well,” he explains.

“If we were building the perfect hotel set up in Dubai, we’d have another three or four of those big transitional hotels. They have 15 to 20 across the US where you could easily accommodate groups of 2000 people, and they are very, very popular.”

As for the next year, Bachar reveals that in January, it will be launching new branding, just prior to its 10th anniversary in February. However, in the meantime, he offers some advice for hotels: the convention sector is only going to continue to grow, “so keep in mind the MICE industry as you continue to do your forecasting and business plans, as it’s an important business sector for the city and its hotels”.

Dubai's upcoming convention highlights
Clean Middle East Pulire, Nov 27 – 29
The international show on cleanliness and hygiene aims to create awareness about scientific cleaning practices, and allows companies to showcase products, technologies and services to potential buyers in the Middle East.

China Homelife Show, Dec 4 – 6
This fair aims to be the largest platform for home products from China in Middle East, and will try to help lead Chinese enterprises to find a ‘new silk road’ by themselves.

The Middle East Com Telco Summit, Dec 4 – 5
The perfect place for all telecoms, media and ICT players to discuss the changing realities of the ever more complex market and to gain insight from the most innovative companies who are succeeding in this increasingly competitive arena.

Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Dec 11 – 12
Offering key stakeholders clear insight into the regional new business climate in a constructive and peer-to-peer setting, the show provides entrepreneurs and SMEs access to institutional and private investors seeking to explore new business alliances.

Indian Property Show, Dec 13 – 15
With more than 300 projects exhibited by over 70 developers, attendees will be able to see a spectrum of properties available, different investment options, financing sources, Vaastu consultations and sort out legal queries on the Indian property market.