Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is set to welcome 11 international congresses in 2014, spanning a variety of industry sectors. When combined, these congresses will contribute an estimated US$32millon (AED117 million) to the city’s economy.
The congresses will attract more than 12,000 international delegates, including global thought leaders in their respective fields, which include healthcare, transportation, legal and technology sectors.
“Dubai’s position as a premier international business tourism destination has grown steadily over recent years, buoyed by our core focus on developing our credentials as a global hub for key industries to hold meetings, conferences and exhibitions. Dubai World Trade Centre continues to create a strong business case to attract major global congresses to our shore, as evidenced by a robust 2014 calendar,” said Ahmed Alkhaja, Senior Vice President – Venues, DWTC.
“We are seeing some major wins across tactical industry segments, which further reinforces Dubai’s knowledge economy proposition, and creates a rich sharing platform for ideas and discussion that will positively impact decisive regional market sectors.”
Healthcare is a key target sector, with DWTC hosting three medical congresses – Asia Pacific Dental Congress, Excellence in Paediatrics, and Scars and Wounds Middle East – that will attract more than 5,000 leading specialists.
Dubai has also won the bid to host another large key congress of the healthcare sector – the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISTB) congress in 2016 – seeing off competition from Paris, Rome and Copenhagen. The thirty fourth International Congress of the ISBT will also take place at the DWTC, in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre located there. This event alone is expected to attract more than 4,000 leading healthcare professionals. The bid for the seven-day event was led by the UAE Ministry of Health alongside support from the Dubai Convention and Events Bureau and Dubai World Trade Centre.
Dr Amin Hussain Al Amiri, the UAE Ministry of Health’s Assistant Undersecretary for Medical Practice and Licence, said: “Dubai’s investment in blood transfusion capabilities over the last decade was a considerable factor in the city being chosen to host the congress. We very much look forward to welcoming 4,000 delegates from all over the world in the field of blood transfusion, immunology and virology.”
DWTC will host two conferences on law – the nineteenth Conference of the International Association of Prosecutors as well as The Annual Conference of the International Association of Law and Forensic Sciences. With the latter being held in collaboration with Dubai Police. Another key win for the emirate is the hosting of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Global Congress. As the world’s largest not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession, the annual meeting is expected to attract more than 1,200 top-level international delegates.
Other key events in 2014 include GSMA MENA, World Congress of Engineering Education, International Baccalaureate Workshop, International Cotton Association Congress and UIPT MENA, the region’s largest public transport event.
Meetings and incentives tourism is one of the key pillars of Dubai’s bold Vision 2020 tourism plan, a far-reaching initiative that also seeks to develop Dubai’s events sector. The number of international trade visitors to the emirate is projected to go up from 900,000 in 2012 to 1.9 million by the end of the decade.