Dubai’s business events sector and wider economy are poised to benefit from another year of successful bidding activity led by Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau.
Collaborating with stakeholders across the public and private sectors, DBE has captured a total of 120 events for the year 2021 and beyond. These events, a combination of conferences, meetings and incentive travel programmes, feature almost 70,000 key opinion leaders, scientists, government officials and other experts, which put Dubai at the heart of global conversations on the recovery of key sectors and professions, innovation and economic growth.
The robust performance, achieved despite continued disruption to the global business events sector, is largely attributable to worldwide recognition of Dubai’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubai provided a viable and attractive alternative for hosting many events held over the past 15 months and now in the pipeline after organisers’ original plans elsewhere in the world could not come to fruition.
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, said “Driven by the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the city’s handling of the pandemic and rapid economic recovery continue to be recognised by the global business community. In addition to seeing Dubai become a hub of choice for businesses, associations and talent across a wide range of sectors and professions, this is also resulting in the city standing out as a preferred destination for events of all sizes.
Among the major events won in 2021 were the 27th International Council of Museums (ICOM) General Conference in 2025. Dubai Business Events (DBE) collaborated with the UAE’s chapter of ICOM (ICOM-UAE), Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and Dubai Municipality to win the bid for the event. Other key events captured over the past year for the associations segment included the BIR World Recycling Convention & Exhibition (2022), Asian Congress in Pediatric Nephrology (2023) and the Congress of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (2024).