HE Mubarak Al Muheiri inaugurates Equip'Hotel Middle East

EHME is a three-day event that is currently taking place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

Today's inauguration, which took place under the patronage of HE Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of ADTA and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), included a ribbon cutting ceremony and a tour of the exhibition halls.

150 exhibitors from 17 countries are taking part at the inaugural edition of the show. 89 international companies are from the US, Canada, Spain, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland, Portugal, Lebanon, Egypt, Oman, Syria and Thailand while the remaining 61 are from the UAE. Germany and France have national pavilions at the event.

"EHME comes at the right time and the right place. With 150 companies participating at the first edition of the show, this is very encouraging. We expect EHME to grow in size and importance in the coming years," said HE Mubarak Hamad Al Muheiri, Director General of ADTA.

Noting the importance of the show at Abu Dhabi's dynamic environment, Al Muheiri said: "It is important because Abu Dhabi will be witnessing the doubling of hotel rooms with scores of hotels currently under construction.

By 2012, the numbers of hotel rooms are expected to rise to 23,000 with the demand and supply stabilizing between 2012 and 2015. The World Tourism Organization said that travel and tourism in the Middle East grew by 11% in 2007 compared to 5% in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi is not affected by the financial crisis because the visitors are mostly business travellers rather than leisure."

EHME (www.equiphotelme.com) is organised by Reed Exhibitions Middle East with the support of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

The UAE capital's leading hospitality groups, Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH) and National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCTH), are show partners.

The event will showcase the latest products, services and technologies for the hotel, restaurant and catering sectors besides featuring specialist conferences emphasizing trends such as the green hotels and shariah compliant hotels.

Showcase seminars highlighting innovative technologies and a Hosted Buyer Program (HBP) are also part of the agenda at EHME.

Exhibitors at EHME represent 14 sub-sectors: Building Layout & Fitting products; Tableware; Laundry; Coffee Making & Bar equipment; Hotel & Restaurant concepts; Food & Beverage; Vending; Kitchen Equipment; Linen & Professional wear; Furniture & Design; Guest Amenities; Spas; Bathroom & Wellness; and Sound & Lighting Technologies.

Leading exhibitors at the event include Samsung, Alpha Data, Sarya Trading, Nakkash Gallery, Procurio General Trading LLC, Euphoria, Swede Dreams, Technogym and Tecking Socotex, Garnier Thiebaut, Bang & Olufsen, Colunex, UNIC SAS, Hotelys and Go In GMB.

The Hosted Buyer Program (HBP) organised at EHME is aimed at providing top-end buyers from the region's hospitality industry, the chance to network and evaluate products and solutions from local and regional exhibitors at the show.

The 3,000 visitors expected at EHME will include buyers from international hotel groups, officials managing hotel apartments and tourist facilities, restaurant and catering operators, chefs, distributors, importers, wholesalers, educational institutions, government authorities, investors, promoters, developers, design and planning consultants, architects and interior decorators.

Two specialist conferences will be held during EHME. Expert speakers from around the world including Hospitality and Green Building pioneers, top consultants and senior managers from the IT and Building sector will address the "Growth of Green Hotels Conference" which is being held today.

Leading speakers at this conference include Wen I Chang, President of the Atman Hospitality Group, Mario Seneviratne, Director - Green Technologies FZCO, Founder & Secretary to the Board - Emirates Green Building Council, Ralph Noblet, Director of ECOS Hotels, Markus Oberlin, General Manager, Farnek Avireal Middle East, Andrea Boeing-Spiess, CEO of Eco Crown Hospitality, Anas Sawaf, Real-Estate Vertical Manager, Cisco and Michael Hartmann, Senior Vice President, at Siemens.

The other specialist conference at the event will be hosted by MKG Hospitality, a leading hotel, catering and tourism sector consultancy. Speakers at this conference will present an overview of Abu Dhabi's and the Middle East's hotel market, the challenges of quality management in the hotel sector and the rise of Shariah compliant hotels.