Coming soon: A convention centre near you

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The Middle East aims to compete with the top conference destinations in the world - MIME takes a look at some of the most significant conference centre developments in the GCC.

The combined bid of Abu Dhabi and Dubai to host the 50th International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) World Congress in 2011 recently lost out to Leipzig at the eleventh hour, with one main reason cited as being influential in the bid going against them.

ICCA CEO Martin Sirk says that too much of the UAE bid was based on what is going to be built, rather than what is already there, unlike the tried and tested venues in Leipzig.

Despite this, ICCA is keen to stress the impressive nature of what is happening in the region and has encouraged another bid in the future.

In the meantime, ICCA has proved its commitment to the region by launching the first ICCA Middle East research, sales and marketing programme, which is set to take place in Dubai from August 27-29.

With the future in mind, MIME takes a look at the major conference and exhibition centres currently being developed in the Middle East.

Bahrain

The Bahrain Exhibition and Convention Authority (BECA) is currently studying projects that would address the increased demand for meetings and conference facilities.

BECA originally planned a new exhibition centre with 30,000m² of exhibition space to be up and running within the next five years, but it recently became apparent that a far larger facility was needed to meet the demand for conference space in Bahrain, according to BECA MICE director Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen.

"We now plan to build a 150,000m² conference centre, which will be able to hold international congresses with up to 10,000 delegates," she explains.

The centre will be developed on a plot of land adjacent to the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).

"This will be the first exhibition centre that's positioned next to a Formula One track and it will house a five-star and a four-star hotel as well as retail outlets; it will almost be like a city," she explains.

BECA also plans to develop the growing incentives sector, which has emerged since the opening of BIC.

"We have a lot of evening functions out at the circuit to try and offer something completely unique for delegates," says Stanford-Kristiansen.

"They can request to have have a gala dinner set up in the paddock club area or they can go up in the tower - it's a very unique experience."

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