Paul Colston visited Dubai Expo2020 and much more besides in the emirate as it positions its events industry to fully exploit the show’s vast legacy potential
The world’s Expo is turning extra global attention on Dubai, 1 October 2021-31 March 2022. It is not only a global showcase of 192 countries’ achievements in the fields of innovation, opportunity and sustainability – the three big themes of the show – but a six-month standing advertisement for all that is good about the exhibition format.
By the end of January, Expo2020 (the name has remained faithful to the original pre-Covid planned date) had attracted over 10m visitors in person and over 40m virtually.
The staging is powerful testament to human achievement and aspiration, and a dazzling array of pavilions brim with technology and innovative concepts.
Our sector is well positioned to make full use of the Expo2020 legacy, with a new Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) at the centre of the experience. Over the next 10 years it will expand to offer 180,000sqm and be the heart of a new District 2020 events and convention hub. The venue is next to the Dubai Metro Route 2020, connecting visitors directly to a host of hotels.
Dubai is well positioned to take on the legacy. Already Dubai is the world’s fourth most visited city and has 132,000 rooms to offer visitors. Business travel accounts for 3% of the United Arab Emirate’s GDP. And while DEC will bring online more exhibition space post-Expo2020, the existing Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) offers 120,000sqm of space and is the biggest venue in the region.
DWTC was one of the first major venues in the world to bounce back after the initial wave of Covid, reopening for business on 1 July 2020 and making a great success of GITEX in October 2020.
Messe Frankfurt Middle East alone, which returned to the live events landscape at DWTC in September 2021, has since organised eight face-to-face exhibitions in the emirate, welcoming over 64,000 trade visitors. DWTC has six hotels on its complex and organises 20 major events of its own through its DXB Live creative agency.
Of course, there have been challenges and the complex hosted a field hospital accommodating 800 Covid patients.
In 2019 there were 3.6m visitors at 418 events at DWTC and although those numbers dropped by about half in 2020, still nearly half of all business travellers to Dubai came to DWTC.
Amway Europe brought 2,500 people for a sales incentive for two days in December 2021 and GASTEC and the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) were successfully staged at DWTC in September. Africa Oil Week also relocated to Dubai, with the Madinat Jumeirah hosting it in November 2021. (The Jumeirah orgnisation has been running the Luxemburg Pavilion at Expo2020, an example of how local hoteliers have been sharing their hospitality experience).
New impetus for promotion
The recent merging of Dubai’s tourism and economy departments into Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism will give new impetus to promoting the destination and Steen Jakobsen, assistant vice-president Dubai Business Events which forms part of the consolidated organisation, said: “Raising our global competitiveness requires new ways of thinking, and this merger is testament to our outlook to the future.” He anticipates visitor numbers increasing to 25m by 2025 and expects the emirate to attract 400 global events by then, too.
Jakobsen says the strategy is to develop home-grown events and support key sectors, as well as to “attract and develop international business events to support the economic development and knowledge creation across multiple sectors”.
The accent on safety and reliability remains strong, with the authorities having launched the Dubai Assured Stamp and the Safe Travels Stamp.
And all is in place for the Dubai Association Conference on 21 February 2022 at the DEC.
The emirate’s Dubai Association Centre (DAC) is another asset for international associations and trade bodies, providing an environment where they can locate their regional offices. To date, 70 associations have taken advantage of the various incentives to do just that. The hub nature of Dubai means that the DAC can also act as a gateway to Asia and Africa.
Resilience & Reinvention
Clearly Dubai is leading the way in the Middle East for business events, with its new strategy and vision backed up by the existing and high-quality critical mass of hotels and venues. Dubai also can offer an equally attractive broad range of activities to appeal to event planners, incentives groups and trade show attendees alike. I can fully vouch for the appeal of Platinum Heritage’s desert safari as one of the many attractive options for exploring the local culture and nature.
The business environment is made more attractive by the emirate’s free-trade zones and favourable taxation policies.
Innovation
Dubai is focusing clearly on tomorrow and harnessing science and innovation to drive its economy and develop further as a global knowledge and technology hub. Thanks to Dubai Business Events, I visited two of the key projects that stand testimony to these grand ambitions being realised.
DEWA Solar Park
Dubai has built an impressive global hub for renewable and clean energy innovation, which it expects to contribute to shaping the future of sustainable energy. It is the largest single-site solar park in the world at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA’s) Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and Innovation Centre. The UAE has put its money where its mouth is to the tune of AED50bn (US$13.61bn) for a project now in its third phase. It was a phase inaugurated last November by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s ruler, and the facility is on track to deliver a total capacity of 5,000MW of power by 2030.
The project will feature the world’s tallest solar power tower and research on solar power at the Innovation Centre will support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
DEWA Solar Park can provide a spectacular backdrop for events and houses an auditorium. Research expertise and speakers are available to tap into for suitable events.
Space Centre
While DEWA is helping to harness the power of the Sun, innovation ad astram is in full swing at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). Founded in 2006, the space centre is home to the UAE National Space Programme. The centre builds and operates earth observation satellites, offering imaging and data analysis services to clients around the world.
The centre launched DubaiSat-1, DubaiSat-2, and more recently KalifaSat on 29 October 2018 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. And, while the early space programmes were joint ventures, KhalifaSat was developed 100% by a team of emirati engineers.
The centre is also developing the Emirates Mars Mission and the Mars Hope Probe, the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. The Centre is also working on Mars 2117, a vision to build a human colony on the Red Planet. The UAE Astronaut programme was another of the centre’s achievements and saw the launch of Hazzaa AlMansoori, the first emirati astronaut, to the International Space Station in September 2019.
As well as establishing an emirati space sector, the MBRSC’s goal is to develop advanced technology for wider use in the UAE.
The MBRSC hosted The International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2021) at DWTC in October 2021. It was the first time the event was held in the Middle East and attracted more than 6,500 delegates from 110-plus countries.
Dubai Future Foundation
Dubai has also set up a foundation concentrated on future vision. The Dubai Future Foundation houses not only some of the best minds in the region, but start ups and incubators. There is major work being done in the field of robotics, virtual reality and medicine, among others, and a number of Smart City initiatives have already been adopted by the Dubai authorities.
District 2020
There is also a new future city. District 2020 is set to repurpose the space it’s currently using at the Expo2020 site to offer offices and residences, education and cultural facilities, venues, and other attractions post Expo. District 2020 will provide a curated innovation-driven business ecosystem. District 2020 will re-purpose 80% of the Expo’s build environment into an integrated mixed use community.
Expo2020
Aside from showcasing innovation in some spectacular pavilions, stands and activations, Expo2020 has been bringing important themes to the fore, including during its recent Global Goals Week in January.
Gender equality was discussed at The Women’s World Majlis. It was an event that took place at the Women’s Pavilion as part of Expo2020’s Programme for People and Planet, which has been connecting change-makers and leaders from around the world to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Rt Hon Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, said: “If we can’t achieve SDG 5 [Gender Equality], then we can’t achieve the SDGs...If women are fully supported, then you are not only fulfilling their right to equality, but it’s also a huge contributor to prosperous societies, families and economies.”
Global Goals Week was the seventh of 10 Theme Weeks under the People and Planet programme.
National Days’ celebrations have been a big part of Expo2020 and K-Pop made its mark during the Republic of Korea’s National Day, 16 January. Just one example, but many countries have used the stages to present unique presentations over the past few months.
Dubai is clearly investing in events and the industry’s future post Expo looks to be rosy. It is an opportunity that should be seized by our sector.
