Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), one of the Middle East’s leading exhibition and conference venue operators, has unveiled its plans for Dubai Exhibition World, a Dh8 billion (US$2.17 billion) dedicated facility capable of hosting the world’s largest and most prestigious exhibitions and events.
Revealed for the first time at the EIBTM trade exhibition in Barcelona, Dubai Exhibition World will provide one of the most advanced stages for major exhibitions and events, with phase one of the 300,000 sq. metre development offering 120,000 square metres of exhibition space at the centre of a 3-million-square-metre dedicated site.
The new development represents the next stage in Dubai’s ambitious plan to become one of the global centres for exhibitions and global gatherings. In the space of a few decades, the UAE’s exhibitions and conference sector has expanded from a handful of dedicated events to a Dh12 billion (US$3.27 billion) a year industry, with the annual rate of event expansion increasing by 15 percent a year in terms of visitors, with some exhibitions experiencing a 30 percent year-on-year rise.
According to senior executives at DWTC, Dubai Exhibition World provides the full framework to enable this meteoric growth to continue. The Centre will be set in a major trade park offering hotels, serviced accommodation, commercial developments, destination retail offerings and a light industrial area for service supplies to the industry such as stand construction companies and furniture supplies.
“The ongoing growth of the exhibitions industry within the Middle East – and Dubai in particular – is presenting a range of interesting challenges and opportunities, and Dubai Exhibition World is designed to be both a comprehensive solution and enabler of growth for this sector,” said Helal Saaed Al Marri, Director General, Dubai World Trade Centre.
“Effectively, it will be the largest development of its kind in the world, providing some of the most significant hall space supported by the most advanced facilities. In addition, it will be surrounded by a specially-designed infrastructure which will provide everything major events require, including a range of hotels, entertainment options and logistics support,” he added.
Dubai Exhibition World will for the first time offer a fully-supported and integrated environment alongside Dubai’s new World Central Airport and Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone, providing easy access for visitors, delegates and exhibitors alike.
Huge demand for advanced facilities
International exhibitions group dmg world media have expressed their intention to occupy the entire Dubai Exhibition World space for their 2009 edition of Big 5, the Middle East’s largest construction exhibition, and have congratulated Dubai’s rulers on their vision in supporting the ambitious project.
“As one of the leading international exhibition organisers, dmg world media is impressed and astonished by the ambition underlying Dubai Exhibition World and the depth of understanding of the events market which has launched this project,” said Bernard Walsh, Managing Director, dmg world media.
“There is nothing else in the world which can match the scope of this project in terms of both the advanced nature of exhibitions centre and the facilities surrounding it,” he added.
Another of Dubai’s cornerstone events has also signed an agreement to use Dubai Exhibition World from 2009. Fairs & Exhibitions (F&E) will organise the biennial billion-dollar Dubai Air Show at the site, taking full advantage of its proximity to the new World Central Airport.
Virginia Kern, Chairman, F&E, said: “There is clear evidence that the aerospace industry within the Middle East and its surrounding regions continues to develop at an impressive pace and the facilities provided at Dubai Exhibition World will enable us to continue to support that growth.”
In excess of 35,000 professional industry visitors attended the Air Show in 2005, with on-site orders reaching a staggering US $21.3 billion.
Unmatched facilities
The first phase of Dubai Exhibition World will offer a total of 19 exhibition halls which can be used in a flexible format at the ground floor.
When the dividing partitions are opened, 17 of these halls can be combined to create a single hall of over 85,000m2 exhibition space, which, at 1,020 metres long and the approximate equivalent of nine football pitches, is the largest single column-free hall in the world.
Adjacent to the main concourse is the multipurpose hall which has a total column-free area of 14,400 square metres and a clear height of 19 metres. In an auditorium configuration it will seat 11,000 people. Designed to accommodate the most complex light and sound rigs, the hall will serve as a spectacular setting for world-class concerts and entertainment events.
With over 14,400 square metres of column-free space, the adjoining Confex hall is an ideal facility for conference and exhibition events. The carpeted hall has fully flexible acoustic partitioning, allowing organisers to create a series of varying sized meeting rooms. Alternatively, the Confex Hall can be used as dedicated exhibition space.
The entire destination is being landscaped-designed, to include water-ways, green areas and parkland.
Dubai is ideally positioned as a gateway city between the East and West with India, Pakistan, North Africa, Europe and countries in the CIS all just a few hours flight time away.
“From Day One of operation, we will be the largest centre in the Middle East for meetings and exhibitions in terms of number of exhibitors, visitors and revenue,” said Al Marri.
“By 2010, Dubai aims to be one of the world’s top destinations for events,” he concluded.
