Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau, secured a total of 261 successful bids for meetings, conferences and incentives in 2018, which are set to attract an additional 153,640 delegates to Dubai over the coming years. The number of event bids won represents a 24% increase from 2017 and will deliver an estimated economic impact of approximately AED 1.2 billion to the city. This success also marks a 62% increase from the previous year in the number of delegates set to visit Dubai due to event bids won, signifying a shift towards larger-scale events and further cementing the Emirate as an attractive global business destination.
Key bid wins from 2018 include the World Congress of Gastroenterology set to take place in 2021 with a total of 6,000 delegates in attendance, the Mary Kay China Incentive set to take place in 2019 with 800 delegates in attendance, as well as the World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress, set to take place in 2020, which will bring 1,000 delegates to Dubai. Other notable wins in 2018 include the World Chambers Congress, which will take place in Dubai in 2021 with 1,500 delegates set to attend and the Congress of the Societe International D’Urologie that will bring in 2,000 delegates to Dubai in 2021.
