The UAE is investing billions of dollars to cement its position in the global events business. Following Abu Dhabi’s $626.4m acquisition of the London ExCeL exhibition and conference site, Dubai has raised the stakes with the formation of the region’s first state-controlled events business company.
Every day, Richard Attias observes the world’s tallest building get a little taller from the 24th floor of his plush Emirates Towers office. But for the former Publicis executive, the completion of Burj Dubai is much more than an engineering marvel.
He hopes, as CEO of the newly-formed Dubai Event Management Corporation (DEMC), it will also bring an array of fresh business to the company.
“My ambition is to be involved in all the great things that Dubai is producing,” he says, adding: “The metro is coming on soon, I hope at least to be asked to participate in the exhibition of proposing a creative concept to inaugurate the metro as well the launch of Burj Dubai.”
It’s not by coincidence that the regional home of 50 percent of the Fortune 500 companies is in Dubai. This is a demonstration that it’s a sustainable model.
To Attias, ambition is everything. The four month-old company has already managed to secure around seven events that it hopes to bring to Dubai before this year’s end.
DEMC, which is owned by the Dubai government, was founded to focus on four areas – arts and culture, conferences and exhibitions, sports, and entertainment. It aims to transform Dubai into a centre for the events industry and it has all the financial backing that a Dubai government-owned company has at its disposal.
In the next few years, DEMC plans to take ownership of more than four key events and establish a global status as an event advisor, venue facilitator and extended service provider, before regionally expanding its business.
Dubai is reducing its reliance on hydrocarbons by boosting travel industry as it aims to attract 15 million tourists by 2015 and increase the number of hotel room capacity to 127,000 by 2016, according to Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). The tourism sector is expected to generate $70.5bn in revenues and contribute 6.4 percent to the UAE’s GDP in 2008, expanding to almost $123.3bn by 2018, reported DTCM.
Projects targeted towards attracting tourists are plenty. Tatweer, a Dubai Holding company, is building the massive $65bn Dubailand development. The company has also made global headlines when it announced projects such as Universal Studios and Bawadi: a version of Las Vegas strip of hotels.
Partnering with internationally-renowned names such as Universal, Marvel and Tiger Woods has created further publicity for Dubai in the global media. Additionally, the UAE has strengthened its presence in the worldwide events industry this year.
In May, state-owned Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) acquired Britain’s top events venue ExCel London in a $627m deal. As Abu Dhabi works towards creating a global network of exhibition centres, Dubai is also joining the race.
Attias believes that while Dubai has established itself as one of the world’s top city-brands, it now needs to make sure it maintains that position.
“When you have a city which is global, has a brand, you need to protect your brand identity. The only way to do that is to support it and control all the ingredients which have an impact on your image. Events are one way,” he says.
“It’s not by coincidence that the regional home of 50 percent of the Fortune 500 companies is in Dubai. This is a demonstration that it’s a sustainable model,” says Attias, but he stresses that the time has come for the emirate to focus on content – and that’s when DEMC comes in.Starting off with 70 employees, DEMC is ultimately overseen by HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and chaired by Tatweer’s chairman Saeed Al Muntafiq. The company couldn’t have chosen a better time to make an entry into the region’s booming events industry.
Events such as Cityscape Dubai, Gitex, and the Dubai International Film Festival continue to expand every year, hosting higher numbers of participants and attendants from global business players to celebrities and politicians and fuelling demand for hotel rooms in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Competition, however, doesn’t seem like a worry to industry veteran Attias.
We want not only to bring in worldwide experts, but to build a dream team we have to recruit UAE nationals.
“What makes DEMC unique is that for the first time in the event industry you have a company owned by the government. It’s also the first company in the industry which has under the same roof sports, art and culture, entertainment, conferences and exhibitions,” he says.
After 18 years in events, organising high-profile conferences like the World Economic Forum Davos Meetings since 1996 and regional versions of WEF, Attias has seen it all.
Among DEMC’s initiatives is the Dubai X-Games World Cup, a global multi-sport action event. The company has partnered with ESPN, an arm of Disney Group, for five years to bring it to the region.
“We are not importing an event; we are building from scratch an event with local roots and taking the experience of ESPN,” says Attias.
He hopes to see world champions emerging from the region. The event boasts the highest prize money for winners with $2.5m up for grabs. It will also feature concerts and entertainment, targeting families.
Attias says the event will provide a platform for the 1200 nationals in Dubai who practice X Games every week. DEMC has started building a permanent stadium in Bawadi, the Bawadi Action Sports Arena, where the event will take place for the first time on December 11-13.
“The fact that we will not only bring an event but also build facilities will also give between two yearly events an ideal venue to help the local communities to go every weekend to practice their passion,” says Attias. He adds: “The event is open to everyone and we expect more than 20 top worldwide athletes but we will push to have a local participation.
DEMC has also made a strategic acquisition in Prisme International – a 10 year-old Dubai-based company specialising in event production and creation of big shows including the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival. Attias says he believes in the importance of local expertise.
“We want not only to bring in worldwide experts, but to build a dream team we have to also recruit UAE nationals, because this business will be sustainable only if you have a very strong national community that is passionate about events and producing them,” he says.
Beyond the ‘razamataz’ of big event production, Attias is also investing in Dubai’s booming conference industry.
“I think Dubai is an ideal location, the bridge and link between the East and the West, multicultural, and global city. It’s a place where many conferences could be hosted.”
The new company also plans to invest in other sectors that include healthcare and entertainment while also focusing on home-grown events.
“We are looking at demand here and different topics that the people of Dubai like. And why not create new events based on local sports? Bring back the tradition and the local culture.
The Morocco-born CEO who spent the first 17 years of his life in the North African country recalls the traditional games he used to engage in with friends. He believes there are plenty of games in the region that could be revived.
Attias points out the success of Freej, the Middle East’s first 3D animated series which emerged from the UAE’s Mohammed Saeed Harib, also director of the fifteen standalone episodes airing on national television. Freej was adopted by Dubai Media City in 2003 and came to life in 2005 when Lammtara Pictures was formed to overlook the production and 500 people were assigned to the project.
“Freej is a perfect example of what you can do with local inspiration. We don’t have to always import; we can build and export. We should not only export the lifestyle but also culture and entertainment,” he says.
Another objective of DEMC is to represent Dubai before international sport organisations and federations. Attias has a special focus on youth. He hopes to create new opportunities for them to invest their time.
“The only way to create talent is to bring things that inspire them. Today, the youth spend 50 percent of their time on the net. Instead of living in a virtual world let’s have a very live world. This I think is the only way to enhance the family lifestyle experience in Dubai. These are the reasons why the institution was created,” he says.Part of the plan is to bring Metropolitan Opera’s live transmissions to Dubai. DEMC has already signed a one-year partnership with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, one of the world’s most renowned opera shows, with the first screening to commence on October 11.
10 operas will be screened throughout 2008 and 2009. With this, Dubai joins other global cities in Europe and South America, part of the network. Despite being only transmissions, the quality is expected to be aired in very high definition that is as close to a live performance as possible, DEMC promises.
“Opportunities like this will not only educate the people of Dubai, but also provide a rich source of artistic entertainment,” says Attias. The event saw more than 920,000 attendees from 17 countries last season. Dubai is now part of an expanded network of 28 countries.
Attias also believes DEMC has to involve itself in different sports events to “raise the bar”. In addition to X-Games, the company is expected to make a number of announcements soon. In terms of other events, DEMC will not manage existing big events but will help “take them to the next level”.
“I think it’s important that we don’t accept the status quo. Curiosity will often lead to new ideas and new approaches and we need to reinvent ourselves everyday,” says Attias.
In his former job as boss of Publicis Live, Attias went with the slogan ‘Viva la Difference’. “We need to be different everyday. This is how we grow and to succeed I think entrepreneurs must experiment,” he says.
And it helps when experimentation is backed by the government. DEMC’s business model, explains Attias, is based on a few investments to start the company. Sponsorship is also key. Attias sees DEMC offering the “ideal platform” for a sponsor who can take on more than one event and become the company’s global patron or corporate sponsor.
“With one access through DEMC, you can have access to cultural and sports events with different audiences as attendees of the school sports league programme are not necessarily the same as the X Games or the Dubai Desert Classic, which we will also organise in January,” he says.
He believes DEMC’s business model will heavily rely on regular corporate private clients who will hire DEMC to organise their events, events with sponsors, as well as a number of initiatives that will require funding by the government. Additionally, sponsors will have access to one of DEMC’s largest initiatives so far, Al Bastakiya, expected to launch within the next three months.
The plan is to transform Dubai’s Al Bastakiya area, part of DEMC’s assets, into the region’s culture hub.
“I have travelled 10 times around the world and I can tell you all the ingredients are here in Al Bastakiya to make that place one of the most visited in Dubai. It will make more sense to spend three hours in Al Bastakiya than in a mall,” he says.
Attias wants between 8 to10 art galleries in the area. There will be villas dedicated to artists for use as their studios or workshops. A boutique hotel similar to Al Maha Resort and Bab El Shams, reflecting UAE traditional design, is also in the planning. Alongside the hotel, regional and local brands, restaurants, and art shops will fill the traditional structures of Al Bastakiya.
“We want to attract artists and give them the opportunity to work in a very inspiring environment. We need to launch Al Bastakiya as own of the most important areas of the future of Dubai,” he says.
The company is currently in talks with different hotel brands and hopes to make a decision by the end of the year. DEMC’s upcoming events will only create more demand for hotel rooms, believes Attias.
“While it’s great to have 95 percent occupancy of hotels, from another side it’s definitely an issue and this is why I am awaiting the opening of more hotels and to see the Bawadi programme achieved. When you create and bring events this will generate more visits and will definitely require more hotel rooms,” he says.
Entertainment is another “key piece of the puzzle”, says Attias, as DEMC investigates the type of permanent shows that will appeal to residents of Dubai and the region.
“10 years ago when someone was investing $100 on communication they were spending $90 on advertising and $10 on events. Today events direct marketing represents $60 and advertising only $40.”
That is the opportunity for both DEMC and the fast emerging events industry of the UAE.
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