The Dubai World Trade Centre will target international meeting professionals and incentive travel buyers visiting Arabian Travel Market 2002, the Middle East's premier trade exhibition for the travel and tourism industry, to be held at Airport Expo Dubai from May 7 - 10.
"Our aim is to introduce the new Dubai International Convention Centre, which will be ready in March 2003, to this influential global audience," said Wahid Attalla, General Manager, Dubai World Trade
Centre.
"We are going to make comprehensive information about the new facility available at a special Dubai International Convention Centre stand which will be housed in the Dubai pavilion organised by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing."
The DWTC sees the ATM promotion as a means of positioning Dubai as a key player on the international meetings, incentive, conventions and exhibitions scene.
"With a capacity to accommodate events for up to 11,000 delegates, we anticipate significant interest in the new venue from professional organisations and institutions which organise international meetings and conferences," added Attalla. "We believe the Arabian Travel Market will assist us in reaching new markets.
"Our appeal to MICE professionals goes well beyond the convention centre's superb hi-tech infrastructure and bricks and mortar. The Dubai International Convention Centre will be managed by a team from the DWTC, an organisation which has been at the forefront of the region's exhibition industry for more than two decades. Our wealth of experience in event organising and catering is a definite asset which will enable clients to rest assured their delegates will be handled with care and professionalism."
The Dubai International Convention Centre will feature a 6,000 seater auditorium and 44 break-out rooms catering to between 60 - 600 delegates. Located next to the Dubai International Exhibition Centre which has 37,000 square metres of prime exhibition space, it will be complemented by more than 1,000 on-site accommodation options. A 412-room Novotel Hotel will flank one side of the convention centre with a 210-room Ibis business hotel opposite.
"In addition, the Dubai International Hotel Apartments, another DWTC operation, will offer 492 fully-furnished one, two and three-bedroomed apartments available on a nightly, weekly, monthly or annual basis. The apartments will also have a presence on the Dubai stand at Arabian Travel Market 2002."
One of the first key events the Dubai International Convention Centre will host will be the 58th Annual General Meeting and board of directors meetings for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in September 2003 - the first time the prestigious event will be held in an Arab country.
The MICE market will be firmly in Arabian Travel Market focus when the four-day show opens at the Airport Expo Dubai, United Arab Emirates on May 7. The MICE sector is again the focus of the show's hosted buyer
programme.
"This is directly in response to industry demand and research amongst exhibitors," said Matt Thompson, Group Exhibition Director (Overseas Events), Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), which organises Arabian Travel Market.
"Fifty of the world's leading incentive decision-makers and 20 leading tour operators will be hosted. They will meet Arabian Travel Market exhibitors and participate in buyer-meet-supplier sessions on the first day of the show."
Meanwhile, Corbin Ball, hailed by Meeting News Magazine as one of the world's most influential people in the meetings industry will address a ground-breaking educational seminar at Arabian Travel Market 2002.
Ball, who will represent the Connected International Meeting Professionals Association (CIMPA), is to address delegates at the seminar on May 8th at the Airport Expo Dubai. He will discuss emerging web and wireless trends for meeting professionals.
"The internet has changed the way we do business," said Lindsey Kavanagh, RTEs Marketing Manager, Overseas Events. "Delegates will be able to see some of the newest tools and features that are on the cutting edge of online technology, and discover how the Web can be used in almost every function of the meeting planning process."
Other topics to be presented during the educational seminar include: Marketing To American Associations and Corporations, as well as Hajj and Umrah Tourism.
"There is a deliberately heavy focus on the US market because American associations and corporations spend over US $110 billion in meetings annually - a great market for outbound destinations to tap," said Kavanagh. "The seminar will explain how US organisers select meeting sites and professional organisers. Currently there are approximately 45,000 US-based associations, each
organising anywhere from 5 - 120 meetings each year. About 46% of them organise international meetings, according to a state of the industry report by Deloitte and
Touche."
Arabian Travel Market 2002 is the ninth in the highly-successful annual series. To date, exhibitors from 54 countries have contracted for the show.
RTE, which is part of Reed Exhibition Companies (REC), organises 11 events worldwide, including World Travel Market, Arabian Travel Market, C.I.S. Travel Market, EIBTM, British Travel Trade Fair, PATA Travel Market, International Golf Travel Market, Mediterranean Travel Fair, Top Resa, AIME and ICCA Exhibition in association with ICCA Congress.
|
