350 per cent increase in number of Dubai co-participants for IMEX-2005

The DTCM has a strong participation for this year's exhibition with 56 co-participants registered for the show when it opens on April 19 for a three-day run in Frankfurt, Germany as compared to 16 in 2003 and 53 in 2004.

The stand size has also increased from 250 sq m in 2004 to 300 sq m this year.

The DTCM Director Operations & Marketing Mr. Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb, said: "There has been an increasing interest from Dubai's tourism industry to participate in this important exhibition as the German market is very important source market for us. There has been a significant year-on-year increase in the number of visitors from Germany and we are very eager to tap this market to its full potential. We are positive that this will further boost the number of visitors from this market."

The co-participants included hotels and hotel apartments, tour operators and cruise operators among others.

IMEX-2005 is unique in attracting both a major international gathering of hosted buyers together with thousands of decision makers from the influential German market.

While, the 2004 show was attended by more than 3,000 German buyers while over 2,800 hosted buyers attended the show including 250 from long-haul markets outside the Western Europe, forecasts for 2005 have been set at 3,000 hosted international buyers, with a large proportion of the expansion coming from the key long-haul buyer markets, as well as over 3,000 German buyers.