International business events boost for Dubai

Dubai’s status as an international business events hub is fast gaining traction with the number of major events either hosted by or destined for the emirate reaching new highs in 2015.

The emirate’s official convention bureau, Dubai Business Events (DBE), bid for a record 250 business events last year and won the right to host 75 of them.

Notable wins include welcoming back the NuSkin South East Asia Incentive group in 2017 and hosting the World Tunnelling Congress in 2018, the World Congress of Neurology in 2019 and the World Congress of Emergency Medicine in 2021.

More than 100 additional conferences are in the pipeline, DBE has revealed.

In 2015, Dubai hosted international exhibitions and events including the 23rd Congress of the International Academy of Legal Medicine, the World Free Zone Organisation Congress, the 2015 Dragon Insurance Conference, the IDA Life Insurance Congress, the Jeunesse Global Incentive group and the Airport Traffic Control Conference.

DBE also teamed up with Emirates, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the hotel sectors and local destination management companies to host more than 550 international meeting and conference organisers across 11 study missions to Dubai in order to showcase the best of what the city has to offer.

"The combined efforts of DBE and its strategic partners, and the many initiatives we rolled out over the past 12 months allowed us to leave a strong footprint on international markets,” said Hamad Bin Mejren, senior vice president, Dubai Events and Convention Bureau.

“Dubai recorded 14.2 million overnight visitors in 2015 which marks a 7.5% increase over 2014. As we look ahead to 2016 we are confident that we will continue to build momentum towards achieving our commitment to grow the city's dynamic business events offering."