An Economic Impact Assessment report prepared by Oxford Economics, market-leaders in global forecasting and tourism analytics, has revealed that the spend associated with events at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) in 2011 has contributed Dh6.5 billion ($1.7 billion) towards Dubai’s economy in 2011, equivalent to 2.1 per cent of Dubai’s GDP.
Regional and local trade from sales made during or as a direct result of events held at DWTC was estimated at a further ‘37-Times’ the value of the Mice sector contribution, creating far-reaching economic benefits for the MEA region. The report specifically focuses on the impact due to DWTC event participation and shows that every Dh1 million ($0.27 million) spend within the Exhibitions and Conference sector delivers five new jobs for Dubai, resulting in more than 36,500 jobs across the emirate in 2011 alone.
This comprehensive analysis covering the retained economic gains through the in-city spend during business events, the critical secondary benefits to the broader supply chain and the increase in wages of the employed population, reinforces the role of DWTC and business events as key drivers of value for Dubai, particularly with the strength of its position as a regional hub, attracting a high volume of international visitor traffic and consequently driving significant foreign spend within the local economy.
The scale of DWTC’s contribution is even more impressive when viewed as one organisation generating a similar impact as the entire exhibition industry of a world-leading business tourism destination like Hong Kong, where the sector as a whole contributes to 2.1 per cent of Hong Kong’s GDP.
Throughout its 33 years of operations, DWTC has built on the city’s geographic advantage and offered best in class hosting infrastructure with seamless visitor experience delivery at its events, raising the profile of trade and consumer events in the region and furthering Dubai’s position as the global hub for trade within the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
The Oxford Economics study projected that DWTC events generated Dh10.9 billion ($2.9 billion) in total sales purely from event participation related spends, not including any commercial deals closed at or after the event, or the value of business partnerships established during the event. Despite the import-based nature of the Dubai economy, nearly 60 per cent of this value was retained within the emirate’s GDP and the DWTC Calendar was responsible for driving a significant 20 per cent value to Dubai’s entire tourism sector. The report further noted that as an established platform for the international business community to network with the wider region, many of the deals closed on or after the trade shows at DWTC result in extended economic benefits for MEA, and estimated the value of such transacted sales to be a significant 37 times multiple of the impact on the exhibitions sector.
Commenting on the organisation’s impact on the economy, Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre said: “The Oxford Economics findings reaffirm the strategic relevance of business destination tourism and the role of DWTC as economic engines for the region and the emirate. We have cemented our position as the region’s business networking hub and our ability to generate critical stimulus across the UAE’s tourism, aviation, hospitality and transport industries is a direct result of the expenditure of event organisers, exhibitors, sponsors, and participants”.
“DWTC’s Events Calendar attracts over a third of its audience base from around the world and delivered nearly five per cent of the total foreign visitors to the UAE in 2011. Once in Dubai, these participants are exposed to the high quality and diversity of the emirate’s amenities and attractions. Dubai’s ability to attract a growing number of international visitors to our venue drives increased impact with more foreign spending within the local economy that directly drives sales for domestic businesses and helps create more jobs,” Almarri explained.
The report validated this observation on the exponential value of international visitors, highlighting that DWTC hosted events brought in 413,120 global travellers, constituting 32 per cent of the venue traffic but were responsible for a significant 88 per cent ($1.2 billion) of the participants’ spend, while the remaining 12 per cent ($167 million) was generated by local participants.