UAE's leading event venue is home to some of the world’s largest exhibitions, such as Gitex Global, Gulfood, Arabian Travel Market, Arab Health and others
Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on Tuesday announced that its annual events generated $3.55 billion (Dh13 billion) in economic output for the emirate last year, of which $2.03 billion (Dh7.45 billion) was retained within Dubai’s GDP.
According to the Centre’s 2022 Economic Impact Assessment Report, total direct economic output across meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) business services and adjacent sectors more than doubled to reach $2.55 billion.
The UAE's leading event venue and the largest event and exhibition centre in the whole region supported over 48,000 jobs, representing a 110 per cent increase year-on-year. The yielding increased disposable household income by $651 million.
DWTC is home to some of the world’s largest exhibitions such as Gitex Global Gulfood, Arabian Travel Market, Arab Health and others. All these events generate massive economic activity, supporting many other sectors such as hospitality, retail, aviation, travel and tourism among others.
“Dubai continues to attract businesses and talent from around the world, with DWTC providing an effective connectivity platform to collaborate, accelerate innovation, and showcase next-generation products and services to far-reaching markets. This sustained impact of in-person events is a clear indicator of the MICE industry’s role in supporting economic growth and achieving investment returns for all stakeholders,” said Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of DWTC Authority.
“2022 has been a particularly milestone year for global MICE, and Dubai’s ability to continue to sustain its pace of growth in this sector that has been through a transformative period showcasing revival post-pandemic, is a testament to our ability to render sustained value to business participants," he added.
Its 63 large-scale events with over 2,000 attendees grew by 26 per cent and received nearly 1.2 million attendees with 40 per cent being international – an increase of 49 per cent.
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Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers. He frequently reports human interest stories, too.
waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com