DWTC registers record visitors in 2014
Dubai World Trade Centre recorded 10 per cent year-on-year growth in visitor numbers in 2014 to deliver a new high of 2.45 million in annual traffic, said a press statement.
With a total of 93 exhibitions – delivering on average 23,000 visitors per event – the venue also witnessed a substantial increase in the mid-sized exhibition segment, signalling strong future growth potential.
Key international source markets for trade visitors during 2014 included Saudi Arabia, 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.
Recently, the Dubai World Trade Centre was declared as a free zone entity which will strengthen its ability to deliver a logistically efficient and business-conducive regulatory environment.
To support growth within the regional Meetings-Incentives-Conferences and Exhibitions (Mice) industry, the continued increase in demand for new shows, and the year-on-year scale up of strategic events within the calendar, DWTC has announced plans to build customised and flexible event space adding a 15,500 square metre extension to its current indoor complex space, taking the available multipurpose indoor event and exhibition capacity to over 121,984 square metres, when it becomes operational from Q1 2016.
Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), and CEO of DWTC, 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."
Delegate attendance to meeting and conferences nearly doubled in 2014 compared to the previous year. Across all business event types, DWTC received more than 901,000 foreign attendees in 2014, representing 39 per cent of the overall trade participant numbers.
Al Marri said: "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."