Getting down to business

zoom

Maltby: the Business Travel Show Dubai 2008 already looks set to be much bigger.

The Business Travel Show Dubai opened its doors for the very first time on October 29 and proved an immediate hit with exhibitors and buyers alike.

More than 2300 corporate travel buyers from across the region attended the show, exceeding the target of 2000 anticipated by organiser Centaur Exhibitions.

The only complaint from the 48 exhibiting companies, which represented a number of corporate travel services, from airlines to Travel Management Companies (TMCs), was that the visitor profile was too Dubai-centric.

At time of press, Centaur Exhibitions had not provided details of visitor source markets. But event director Sally Maltby said: "When we look at the breakdown of where our visitors came from we will be able to see which areas and also which job titles we need to target more heavily for 2008.

We have already re-booked more than 80% of this year's event for 2008, which is a fantastic start, so we have increased our space with the venue and will look at extended opening hours.

Maltby added: "We will also look at a wider variety of networking events, as well as the content of our educational programme so we ensure we move with the market and provide visitors from all over the Middle East with a wide variety of reasons to attend.

The Business Travel Show Dubai was staged at the Madinat Jumeriah Arena from October 29-30 under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group and president of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation.

The show has been running for 14 years in the UK, and for four years in Germany, but was established in Dubai under a joint venture agreement between Centaur Exhibitions and Dnata World of Events Dubai.

It provided the opportunity for corporate travel suppliers to showcase their products and services to those who buy or manage company travel.

The decision to sponsor and exhibit was taken to position ourselves as the leading travel management company in this region," explained Dnata Travel Services divisional senior vice president Iain Andrew.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

READERS' COMMENTS

View all comments (0)

Have your say

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM