The Mena region’s Dh1.2 trillion ($272 billion) tourism projects sector is to receive a boost with the announcement that Reed Exhibitions will organise Tourism Development Projects & Investment Market (TDIM), a major, new annual trade show that will focus on promoting flow of investment, resources and expertise into tourism development in the region.
Dubai, the region’s tourism powerhouse, will host the inaugural event, from January 20 to 22 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre (DICEC). Frederic Theux, President of Reed Exhibitions Middle East, stated that the exhibition will address several critical gaps that existed in the region's tourism development sector.
“There are a number of key governmental and semi-government institutions, private tourism project developers and key industry players who are driving the region's tourism development. Effective cooperation and coordination between them is essential to achieve the region’s ambitious tourism development targets. Through TDIM, Reed wants to bring together the world’s key players to boost the prospects for tourism in the region,” he said.
The industry's response to TDIM has been impressive and already several leading players including the Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Dubailand, a member of Tatweer, and Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) have confirmed their support for TDIM.
A Reed Exhibitions survey estimates the value of tourism projects to be completed by 2018 in the Mena region at over Dh1.2 trillion. GCC countries account for approximately Dh1 trillion or more than 85 per cent of this value. The UAE is the dominant player in the region's tourism development with an 85 percent share of the total value of announced projects, amounting to Dh858 billion. Of this amount, tourism projects in Dubai total up to over Dh450 billion, more than 50 percent of the value of UAE projects.
The Dh1 trillion worth of projects in the GCC will occupy an estimated area of 737 million sqm when complete. The UAE’s tourism projects are spread over 558 million sqm - more than 75 percent of the GCC total. Elsewhere in the region, projects in North Africa, primarily in Egypt, Sudan, Morocco and Tunisia, are valued at Dh128 billion while those in the Levant (Lebanon, Syria and Jordan) amount to Dh77 billion.