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Dubai Business Events, DBE, the city’s official convention bureau, has secured a total of 261 successful bids for meetings, conferences and incentives in 2018, which are set to attract an additional 153,640 delegates to Dubai over the coming years.
The number of event bids won represents a 24 per cent increase from 2017 and will deliver an estimated economic impact of approximately AED1.2 billion to the city. This success also marks a 62 per cent increase from the previous year in the number of delegates set to visit Dubai due to event bids won, signifying a shift towards larger-scale events and further cementing the Emirate as an attractive global business destination.
Throughout 2018, Dubai submitted 557 business event bids, up from 354 in 2017, and among the wins awarded were those for bids submitted in previous years. 2018 also marked DBE’s 15-year anniversary, and the results are testament to the efforts of stakeholders and partners across the city who worked with the bureau towards the shared aim of growing and developing the city’s business events sector.
Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, "We look forward to hosting a number of significant events in the city over the next few years as a result of the outstanding performance in bid wins we have secured in 2018. Driven by the city’s visionary leadership, Dubai has become a flourishing business events destination and knowledge hub which caters to a range of event types and sizes. Our strategy will continue to align with Dubai Tourism’s Vision and in 2019 our goal is to build on this momentum and attract events that leave a lasting legacy for delegates and the city. To achieve this, we will continue to engage with business events professionals globally, while working with stakeholders and partners in Dubai to identify and pursue opportunities to bid for major business events."
Key bid wins from 2018 include the World Congress of Gastroenterology set to take place in 2021 with a total of 6,000 delegates in attendance, the Mary Kay China Incentive set to take place in 2019 with 800 delegates in attendance, as well as the World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress, set to take place in 2020, which will bring 1,000 delegates to Dubai. Other notable wins in 2018 include the World Chambers Congress, which will take place in Dubai in 2021 with 1,500 delegates set to attend and the Congress of the Societe International D’Urologie that will bring in 2,000 delegates to Dubai in 2021.
Steen Jakobsen, Assistant Vice President of Dubai Business Events, said, "One of Dubai’s strengths when it comes to reaching out to event planners and creating compelling bids for major events is the close team work and collaborative approach taken by stakeholders across the city. The monumental growth in the number of delegates set to attend business events in Dubai as a result of 2018 bid wins is testimony to the Emirate’s increasing appeal as a global business hub."
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