Dubai World Trade Centre welcomed 3.43 million delegates last year, an increase of four percent on the previous year, driven by nearly 100 large-scale events.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, deputy chairman of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) said the results were driven by 363 MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) and business events, up 3 percent over 2017.
Sheikh Ahmed said: “As we remain future-focused with the aim to make Dubai the most innovative city in the world, DWTC will continue to play a central role in fuelling innovation across all sectors, driving destination competitiveness, and creating future economic opportunities for both, Dubai and the global community.”
He added: “In 2018, the business has continued to show exceptionally intense resilience in a competitive and dramatically evolving global environment – delivering strong growth figures across the portfolio.”
The year-on-year footfall increase was a reflection of the strength of DWTC’s entire business portfolio in its ability to attract 54,717 exhibiting companies from 162 countries, of which 41,147 were foreign exhibitors, he said.
DWTC said it welcomed 1.04 million foreign business travellers to Dubai, representing 41 percent of its overall participant volumes.
The primary source for attendees continued to be dominated by Saudi Arabia, India, Oman, China, Egypt, Turkey, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Kuwait.
DWTC’s events calendar added 28 new entrants including seven exhibitions, nine associations and 12 conferences in 2018, of which 13 were categorised as large scale events with more than 2,000 attendees.
Overall, DWTC’s 97 large-scale events attracted 2.5 million participants, 23 of which were classified as mega-events and attracted over 30,000 attendees per event.
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