Dubai: Following Dubai’s win of the Expo 2020 bid, key decision makers gathered for a Host Cities Summit this week in Dubai to prepare for the event.
The public and private sector cooperation will be key to a successful Expo 2020, said Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DDTCM) and a key figure in Dubai’s bid for the Expo,
“Private and public sectors should build a strategic partnership and work together to facilitate and support the hosting of this event successfully,” he said.
Al Marri also stressed that good marketing for the event, business opportunities, activities and services provided across the emirates should be considered by both the public and private sectors.
“This will help to attract more businesses, investments as well as visitors to the country, [their numbers] expected to reach 20 million by 2020.”
Further developments
While infrastructure, government support and the local support from Emiratis and non-Emiratis were behind Dubai’s success in the bid, Al Marri said: “We should go ahead with further developments across the country’s roads, bridges, airports, transportation, hospitality to cope with the size of growth and demand that the UAE is expected to witness by 2020.”
He gave an example of extending the hours of Dubai Metro as one of the details that will be considered in getting Dubai ready to host this major event.
“Maintaining a safe environment across the country as well as transformation into eGovernment is definitely part of Dubai’s effective strategies for hosting Expo 2020 which will enable businesses and visitors to come to Dubai and attend the event.”
Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior vice president, Corporate communication for marketing and Brand at Emirates, said that although Dubai is more accessible to more people than any other major event venue, the transportation infrastructure will be growing further at the time of the Expo.
“Dubai will be linked to more destinations, and 200 more aircraft will be added to the Emirates’ fleet then.”
Promotion
On an annual basis, Emirates allocates Dh1 billion for sponsoring major global events, and another Dh1 billion for promotion and advertisement. The total of Dh2 billion represents two per cent of the company’s overall returns, Boutrous added.
Emirates will play a major role in supporting and marketing Dubai Expo 2020, he said.
Salah Tahlak, Senior Vice President for Corporate Communication and Tournament Director, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, confirmed that the mission of promoting Dubai and all events taking place in the city will go on. Tahlak said that since the inception of Dubai Duty Free, 1.3 per cent of the company sales has been spent on marketing and promotions for the emirate.
He added that tennis champions such as Roger Federer, who made the emirate his second home, and Novak Djokovic, can promote and do strong marketing for Dubai about how well it accommodates the participants and attendees of events.
