DWTC surpasses 2007 record drawing 1.1 million visitors to its venues

The company's year-end results validate continued growth for the region's events industry, with many leading shows across a range of sectors showing strong growth in the number of exhibitors and visitors.

"We have shown consistent and aligned growth across all our business lines, reinforcing DWTC's position as the leading convention and exhibition venue in the region, and underlining Dubai's capabilities as a world-class destination for business networking. Our long-term strategy aims to make Dubai the global hub for exhibitions and conferences, and 2008's performance, despite the prevailing global conditions, is evidence of our strong business fundamentals," said Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centre.

The DWTC venues- Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) and Airport Expo Dubai, welcomed a total of approximately 1.1 million visitors across exhibitions, meetings, and conferences last year, driven by record growth in leading shows across a number of sectors that are core for the strategic development of the region; ranging from healthcare and construction, to travel and technology.

DWTC-organised exhibitions posted encouraging results over 2008, with Gitex welcoming an impressive 129,884 visitors and the consumer show at Airport Expo, Gitex Shopper attracted over 132,000 buyers, emphasising their growing significance in driving the region's high-growth ICT and telecommunications sector; Gulfood retained its status as the premier event for the food and hospitality sector, with a 32% growth in show space, taking up over 60,000 sq m in 2008.

Additionally, DWTC also debuted two new shows in 2008, MEFX in partnership with DIFC and Ingredients Middle East - a specialist event designed to serve the producers and consumers of ingredients related to the high performing food and beverage industry.

Other notable shows included Arab Health, one of the largest global events for the healthcare industry, which recorded a massive 166% spurt in visitor numbers. Cityscape saw a 44% increase in footfall from 52,000 in 2007 to 75,000 in 2008, despite the global decline of the real estate markets. Big 5, which last year was DWTC's largest exhibition in physical size since its opening in 1979, covered almost 85,000 sq m - over 30% more than in 2007.

The biggest regional event dedicated to the construction sector welcomed over 60,000 visitors as well as 3,200 manufacturers and suppliers from over 55 countries - making it the largest in size and spread of exhibitors for the plant, construction vehicles, machinery and equipment industries.

An indicator of the constantly evolving and vibrant exhibition sector, was the launch of nine new shows in 2008, spreading across such diverse sectors as banking and finance, food and beverages, travel infrastructure development, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and aircraft interiors, among others.

Complementing the success of Dubai's exhibition sector, the meetings, incentives and conferences industry is also positively impacting visitor figures with 2008 drawing close to 76,000 delegates that attended 597 conferences and meetings; a 50% increase in attendance over 2007.

The increase in visitor numbers enabled DWTC's award-winning hospitality division to record an even stronger 2008. The division served an impressive 1,017,335 covers, marking a 14% increase in catering for MICE events alone, and making ours one of the busiest catering teams in the Middle East.

To support Dubai's capacity to attract global business tourists, DWTC continues to work in close partnership with the Road and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Municipality (DMC), and Dubai Police, providing infrastructure support and travel logistics to facilitate access to and from our shows and to alleviate traffic congestion. In 2008, special buses, taxis and additional routes were made available from key locations, malls and hotels in the city to and from DWTC venues.

Airport Expo Dubai, adjacent to the Dubai Airport, is connected via the new Business Bay corridor to the central business areas of the main city. Additionally, RTA provided 'park and ride' bus service to and from neighbouring parking areas to the Airport Expo Dubai facility to ensure that all participants were easily able to access all events.

Following its strong performance in 2008, DWTC will continue to move forward with its commitment to contributing to the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, as laid out by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

"We are working to sustain our target of 1-1.5% contribution to Dubai's GDP, on par with global benchmarks such as Singapore and Hong Kong in the events and exhibitions sector. DWTC divisions have shown record growth, met significant milestones during 2008, and we expect the events sector to play a critical role during 2009 as the catalyst to stimulating the investment climate and boosting economic growth, while playing a major role in driving up visitor traffic to the region,"said Almarri.