One of the first cities in the world to reopen for international meetings, Dubai continues to gain momentum through the rest of 2021 and into 2022 with a busy conference, meeting, and incentive program.
Following on from the resumption of international tourism to the city in July 2020, Dubai welcomed international business events from October 2020 and immediately saw a healthy pipeline of conferences and exhibitions taking place across the city, according to a press release issued by Dubai Tourism on Tuesday.
Due to Dubai’s ability to safely host events and its prudent handling of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this trend will continue through Expo 2020 Dubai and the rest of 2022.
Among the major congresses and conferences coming to Dubai in the coming months are the Congress of the Société Internationale d’Urologie, Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, International Astronautical Congress, World Chambers Congress, LPG Week, Gastech, and Africa Oil Week. While the city is expected to welcome incentive groups such as AFC Life Sciences, Amway, Sunhope, Jeunesse, and OMNILIFE.
Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “Driven by the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the city was among the first in the world to restart its business events sector, providing a vital platform for associations, businesses and organisations to resume their face to face meetings and drive knowledge development in key sectors.
” We understand the importance for the meetings industry globally to restart physical events, and thanks to the efforts of stakeholders across the city, this all continues to be done in environments that prioritise the safety of all delegates, participants and organisers,” Kazim said.
As Expo 2020 Dubai begins on 1st October and runs for six months, the city is poised to welcome a number of major corporate and incentive groups that will be able to make use of the opportunity for delegates to experience and explore the world’s greatest show. Expo 2020’s Dubai Exhibition Centre will also host a number of important conferences and events, including the Dubai Association Conference.
UAE’s official convention bureau, Dubai Business Events (DBE), continues to engage in meeting planners internationally, face-to-face where possible, highlighting the city’s business events infrastructure and rapidly developing knowledge economy. In the coming months, DBE will host a number of study missions to Dubai, particularly during Expo 2020 Dubai, in order to give meeting and event planners a glimpse of the offerings around the city. The global team of DBE will also meet planners on sales missions and at trade shows in their native countries.
Steen Jakobsen, Assistant Vice President, Dubai Business Events, said, “In the wake of the global pandemic, Dubai was able to quickly restart its business events sector leveraging the city’s ability to provide both a safe setting, while at the same time facilitating impactful face-to-face meetings. We continue to see strong interest from organisers looking to get their business events back on track as soon as possible – and thanks to the aligned approach taken by stakeholders across Dubai, we have been able to quickly mobilise when necessary to accommodate businesses, associations and other organisations to review their original plans and relocate events to Dubai.”
Africa Oil Week will be one of the major events taking place in Dubai in the upcoming months. In the past, the event has been hosted in South Africa, but this year’s event will take place in Dubai, giving attendees a safe and convenient location to conduct crucial discussions. Meanwhile, Gastech, one of the world’s largest exhibitions and conferences focused on gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hydrogen, will also take place in Dubai after being relocated from Singapore.
Chris Hall, Event Director, Africa Oil Week said, “We chose to temporally move Africa Oil Week to Dubai for 2021 due to the exceptional progress made in the UAE’s vaccination programme. Dubai is also the leading financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and presents an opportunity for our attendees to meet with new capital holders to further drive investment into Africa.”