Dubai’s business events sector is poised to benefit from another year of successful bidding activity led by Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau.
Collaborating with stakeholders across the public and private sectors, DBE captured 120 events for the year 2021 and beyond.
These events – a combination of conferences, meetings and incentive travel programmes – feature almost 70,000 key opinion leaders, scientists, government officials and other experts.
Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, said the events put Dubai at the heart of global conversations on the recovery of critical sectors and professions, innovation and economic growth.
The performance, achieved despite continued disruption to the global business events sector, is mainly attributable to the worldwide recognition of Dubai’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.
Dubai has been widely praised for providing a viable and attractive alternative for hosting many events held over the past 15 months after organisers’ original plans elsewhere could not come to fruition.
Almarri said: “Driven by the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the city’s handling of the pandemic and rapid economic recovery continue to be recognised by the global business community.
“In addition to seeing Dubai become a hub of choice for businesses, associations and talent across sectors and professions, the city is standing out as a preferred destination for events of all sizes.”
He added: “The past two years’ experience has only served to underline the importance of in-person business events and what they can offer to organisers, participants, sponsors, exhibitors, and their wider networks.
“We, therefore, continue to explore all opportunities to host business events in Dubai and work with stakeholders in the city to provide meeting planners with a safe, impactful platform for knowledge sharing, networking and creating lasting legacies.”
Among the significant events won in 2021 were the 27th International Council of Museums General Conference in 2025, the BIR World Recycling Convention & Exhibition (2022), Asian Congress in Pediatric Nephrology (2023) and the Congress of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (2024).
Meanwhile, the city’s pipeline of corporate meetings and incentive travel programmes also continued to grow, with the addition of the McDonald’s Russia Convention, AIA Star Convention and Oriflame Anniversary Gold Conference, all taking place this year.
The additions to the calendar come amid a growing focus on the business events sector in Dubai, underlined by the formation of the Department of Economy and Tourism.
One of the key priorities for the department is to capture 400 global economic events annually by 2025.
This year, DBE will lead nine sales missions across four continents, showcasing the city in traditional strongholds such as India, Europe and China and markets where it sees strong opportunities for growth, including Israel and Latin America.
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