No business like show business

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As exhibitor numbers rack up and hotels around the region contemplate refurbishment plans, Hotelier Middle East finds out why The Hotel Show has become such a paradise of procurement.

Following on from the success of last year's event, exhibitors are returning by the hundreds with high expectations of the region's key hospitality industry event - The Hotel Show 2008.

On show

SARA Hotel Supplies UAE sales manager Abdulhamid Diab explains that SARA has been absent from The Hotel Show for the past two years, participating instead in the Gulfood show.

"We're returning to The Hotel Show after we found Gulfood too large an event; it became regional rather than local," Diab says.

"Being that we are a local branch that caters to the local market, The Hotel Show provides a more personal experience with our current and future clients without the noise and the traffic that could be found in other exhibitions."

Rubelli Sahco is making its third appearance at The Hotel Show - having also defected from another event, as contract manager Hektor von Schledorn explains.

"Initially we were exhibiting at Index, but it stopped being suitable for us," he says. "The Hotel Show caters more to professionals, and that's what we need."

There are various reasons for exhibitors to return - one of which is to find a distributor in the region, as in the case of Lightworks Resources.

Company president Rashmi Tolentino Singh explains that it will be the company's fourth appearance at The Hotel Show, and that it will be looking for representation.

Création Baumann manager and design coordinator Veenu Kanwar believes The Hotel Show is an essential event for suppliers looking to break into this market. "We've been exhibiting at this show right from the year that it started," says Kanwar.

The Middle East region enjoys a role of paramount importance [in this industry], being one of the most active growth regions in the world with a booming construction and hospitality industry and one of the world's most buoyant economies."

Diversified General director Valerie Abernathy adds that following Diversified's first appearance at last year's Hotel Show, the company negotiated some very good contracts from contacts made at the exhibition.

"We feel the show is an important medium for us to keep our profile high amongst the countries that we do not get to visit very often, such as Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and some African countries," Abernathy adds.

The event is also an ideal palace to make announcements, as Phil Payne, general manager of Dornbracht Middle East, explains.

"We announced our Middle East launch at The Hotel Show 2007, so this is our second year," he says. "With the massive construction boom in the region, especially in the hospitality industry, there's hardly a better place to meet the decision makers in the hotel industry than The Hotel Show."

There will also be a sizeable number of first-time exhibitors to look out for, such as Zumtobel Lighting.

Heading up the company's international projects is Herbert Wessin, who explains: "The United Arab Emirates has become a region of great opportunity for us, especially in the hospitality and wellness sector, which has grown tremendously during the last years.

We believe that we have unique solutions for this market and feel that The Hotel Show provides us with an ideal launch pad for presenting these solutions."

This will also be Samsung Electronic's first year at the exhibition. The company's general manager - business development Marco Vocale explains: "Our presence this year can be primarily attributed to our global decision to focus on the B2B and vertical markets, namely the hospitality industry."

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