Dubai World Trade Centre sees 10% growth in 2014

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) Authority recorded a 10% increase in year on year visitor growth over 2013 numbers, Hotelier Middle East can exclusively report (click on the image to enlarge).

The venue delivered a new high of 2.45 million in annual traffic during 2014, which has been attributed to a more diverse calendar of events and the growth of Dubai as a business destination.

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), and CEO of DWTC commented: “Our 2014 double digit growth across key performance metrics is testament to the committed efforts to lay a strong foundation, and build on it with regular strategic alignment of our plans with the wider Dubai Plan 2021.

“DWTC has delivered consistent year-on-year growth in the scale of our MICE calendar, not only in the number of events we host, but also in the variety and the quality of traffic we attract.

“Moving forward, we have invested in venue expansion to allow for the continued growth of our high-performer events as well as provide opportunity for new entrants into our calendar.”

Much of DWTC’s strong performance in 2014 is attributable to its priority focus on three strategic areas; capital investment in the venue to facilitate event expansion; a more diverse event calendar; and increased attractiveness of Dubai as a business destination for international travellers.

With a total of 93 exhibitions — delivering on average 23,000 visitors per event — the venue witnessed a substantial increase in the mid-sized exhibition segment.

To support growth within the regional MICE industry, DWTC recently announced plans to build customised and flexible event space adding a 15,500m2 extension to its current indoor complex space.

This will take the available multipurpose indoor event and exhibition capacity to over 121,984m2 when it becomes operational from Q1 2016.

In terms of creating a more diverse event portfolio, DWTC showcased more than 435 trade events in 2014, including 49 new additions across international conferences and exhibitions.

DWTC’s MICE portfolio in 2014 showed a 16% growth in number of exhibitions and a 40% year-on-year increase in number of association meetings and congresses.

Explaining the strong performance, Almarri said: “Over the past three years, we have systematically evolved and strengthened the portfolio of trade fairs and conferences to reflect sector priorities for Dubai’s economic agenda.

“In tandem we have been broadening our calendar mix with more leisure-entertainment events that have yielded greater venue utilisation and limit seasonality swings.”

DWTC also worked with event organisers on building new shows in sectors of strategic relevance to the UAE and Dubai last year.

These sectors span healthcare, ICT, energy (sustainable non-hydrocarbon), finance and economics, food, logistics and retail.

The third strategic pillar that boosted performance of DWTC in 2014 was attracting international visitors and driving GDP impact.

DWTC welcomed more than 901,000 foreign attendees in 2014, representing 39% of the overall trade participant numbers.

This builds on the strong sales and marketing alignment with airline partners and tourism related authorities, leveraging direct airlift into Dubai from key destinations.

International source markets for trade visitors during 2014 included Saudi Arabia (KSA), India, Oman, United Kingdom, China, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan, closely mirroring the top 10 markets for wider business tourism traffic into Dubai as well.

In addition to business visitors welcomed in 2014, DWTC saw a 17% growth in traffic to leisure, entertainment and concert events with sports alone seeing a 50% rise in attendance.

Commenting on future plans, Almarri noted: “Working closely with our organisers, corporate tenants and exhibitors, as well as with our public and private sector partners, we expect 2015 to further accelerate growth in our established shows and new-to-market events, ultimately delivering returns for our clients, increasing attractiveness to domestic and international organisers and attendees, and amplifying economic value for Dubai.”

The recent establishment of the new Dubai World Trade Centre Authority as a Free Zone entity further strengthens DWTC’s ability to deliver a logistically efficient, business-conducive regulatory environment.