Events industry looks forward to peak season

Dubai: The opening of the Cityscape property exhibition and the GAMES15 video game show mark the start of Dubai’s conference and exhibition season — the peak time for event managers and stand builders.

The Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector has a significant impact on Dubai’s economy. Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) hosted 93 exhibitions in 2014, with an average 23,000 visitors per event, a 16 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of exhibitions and 10 per cent rise in visitors. At the same time it recorded a 40 per cent rise in the number of association meetings and congresses.

Bloomberg estimates that the total value of the MICE sector in the GCC in 2014 was $1.3 billion (Dh4.8 billion), with the UAE accounting for half of that ($653 million). Bloomberg estimated the global MICE sector was worth $2.2 trillion.

For companies taking part in an event, the costs are significant. In addition to floor space, which can run to several thousand dirhams per square metre for showcase events, there are the costs of exhibition stands themselves.

While stand builders were reluctant to quote prices for stands — each is custom-built — one Dubai-based events manager said they could range from around Dh15,000 for a moderate quality 3 metre by 3 metre stand suitable for a mall, to around $100,000 (Dh367,000) for a two-level 10 metre by 15 metre quality stand designed for a 10-day exhibition. “I have had a stand built for $150,000, but it was a modular design so that we could disassemble it and reassemble it later for around $15,000.”

He said lower manpower costs gave Dubai an advantage as an exhibition destination. “If you were to build the same stand in Europe, it would cost you more because the manpower cost is more. You’d have to compromise on quality. You get more bang for your buck here — and there’s another factor: the number of hotel rooms available in the city.”

Knowledge

Tristan Irons, CFO of The Alliance, the company staging GAMES15, said that events are becoming smaller not necessarily due to the costs but rather whether the content was sufficient to support multi-day events. “Every time you look at a new idea, what do we have as content? How is that content valuable in the eyes of the visitor? How impactful is that? You don’t want to lose sight from that impact; you don’t cut from the experience you are trying to achieve.”

Irons’ company has delegated Origami Unfolded and other companies to build the event’s stands and sets. “Knowledge is key here. If somebody doesn’t know how to build an ice tube then how can he build? Also the key factor is that they consider that our product is high end quality and has an impact on the visitor. When you are measuring the investment you want people to walk off and say this is [a good] investment and I have got what I have asked for,” said Irons.

The Marketing Director at Origami, Junaid Sayeed, said the cost of the events varies from one client to another. “We have our factory. We go pitch to the clients and they select the design and we implement it.”

Varying costs

Nitin Mathew, Founder and CEO of Cygnus Communications, said that stand build or fabrication costs vary, depending on the complexities of the stand. “It generally revolves around the size of the stand, the materials used, finish required, audio visual components, structural components, manpower, speciality work, etc. The cost can also vary depending on the time of the year as well as the venue of the event.”

“For the events industry, it’s definitely on a high rise. These exhibitions are in competition to provide people new experiences whether it’s in entertainment, sports or technology,” said Sayeed. “All clients want their presence at events to have a meaningful impact and that is why we also provide an exhaustive plan that targets each client’s marketing objectives whether it be launching a brand, increasing customer engagement or sustained brand awareness.”

Additional reporting by Andy Staples, Chief Business Reporter

Omnia Ibrahim is a trainee at Gulf News