Dubai’s business events sector is geared for H2-21 action
Industry conferences such as Africa Oil Week shifts from South Africa to Dubai
Dubai: With more flights and countries connected, Dubai’s business events sector continues to build on the momentum being one of the first cities in the world to reopen.
Among the major upcoming conferences are the Congress of the Société Internationale d'Urologie, Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, International Astronautical Congress, World Chambers Congress, LPG Week, Gastech and Africa Oil Week. Major groups to visit the city include AFC Life Science, Amway, Sunhope, Jeunesse and Omnilife.
Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “We understand the importance for the meetings industry to restart physical events, and thanks to the efforts of stakeholders across the city, this continues to be done in environments that prioritise the safety of all delegates, participants and organisers.”
To build on this, Dubai Business Events continues to engage with meeting planners internationally to highlight the city’s business events infrastructure and rapidly developing knowledge economy. “In the wake of the pandemic, Dubai was able to quickly restart its business events sector leveraging the city’s ability to provide both a safe setting while at the same time facilitating impactful face-to-face meetings,” said Steen Jakobsen, Assistant Vice-President, Dubai Business Events. “We continue to see strong interest from organisers looking to get their business events back on track as soon as possible and we have been able to quickly mobilise when necessary to accommodate businesses, associations and other organisations to review their original plans and relocate events to Dubai.”
Events lineup
The Africa Oil Week is traditionally hosted in South Africa, but this year’s edition was relocated to Dubai. Meanwhile, Gastech, one of the world’s largest exhibitions and conferences focused on gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hydrogen, will also take place in Dubai.
“We chose to temporally move Africa Oil Week to Dubai for 2021 due to the exceptional progress made in the UAE’s vaccination programme,” said Chris Hall, Event Director, Africa Oil Week. “Dubai is also the leading financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and presents an opportunity for our attendees to meet with new capital holders to further drive investment into Africa.”