Dubai World Trade Centre.
MARKET VALUE
DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH IN C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES AT DUBAI TRADE SHOWS INCLUDING AUTOMECHANIKA CONFIRMS A WELCOME RETURN TO BUSINESS FOR THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY.
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he return of physical trade fairs to Dubai in 2021 has been welcomed by C-level decision makers, with one of the Middle East’s largest organisers confirming senior management visitor registration to its exhibitions last year increased by 78 percent versus pre-Covid years. Messe Frankfurt Middle East returned to the live events landscape at Dubai World Trade Centre in September 2021 and has since hosted eight face-to-face exhibitions in the Emirate, welcoming a combined 64,254 trade visitors from 116 countries. The Dubai-based company lists Beautyworld Middle East, Automechanika Dubai, and Intersec as its three flagship shows. While the total number of
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visitor attendance is justifiably less than prepandemic years, an increasingly positive trend, said Messe Frankfurt Middle East’s CEO Simon Mellor, is the steep rise in visitor registration by the likes of CEOs, Managing Directors, and business owners. “This growth is mirrored by the number of individuals from the procurement or purchasing function which has increased by an average of 14 percent in real terms compared to 2019,” said Mellor. “We saw 78 percent more senior management visitor registration to our shows in 2021 compared to 2019, which indicates that, while total attendance may