Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain lead the Middle East’s business events surge with landmark events and infrastructure investments
Three destinations in the Gulf region – Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain – are demonstrating strong growth in the global business events market, where these nations have reported increased event wins and significant investments aimed at attracting international business events.
For example in 2024, Dubai secured a record 437 events across various sectors, projected to attract an estimated 210,731 delegates to the city in the coming years.
Among the key event wins for 2025 include the WFNS World Congress of Neurosurgery with 4,000 delegates; 2025 Asia Pacific Cities Summit & Mayor Summit with 1,200 delegates; 2025 Pan Arab Radiology Conference with 1,500 delegates; 2026 Global Symposium on Health System Research with 3,000 delegates; and 2026 FIP World Stamp Exhibition with 1,000 delegates.
“As part of the Department of Economy and Tourism and aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, Dubai Business Events (DBE) is committed to positioning the emirate as a premier business event destination.
“The bureau’s strategic partnerships with hotels, venues and event service providers, combined with Dubai’s connectivity, safety, and diverse attractions, solidify its reputation as the top MICE destination in the Middle East,” said Karina Lance, associate vice president, DBE.
Over in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom successfully secured the bid for Riyadh Expo 2030, an event anticipated to be transformative. This year, Saudi Arabia will be hosting major events like Global Infrastructure Expo (September 15-17), the largest infrastructure trade event in Saudi Arabia; Saudi Event Show (September 17-18) for the business events industry; and Cityscape Global (November 17-20), the region’s top real estate gathering.
“Saudi’s T-MICE (tourism MICE) strategy is aiming to position our country as a global hub for MICE tourism,” said Alhasan Aldabbagh, president of APAC Markets at Saudi Tourism Authority. He added that in Asia Pacific, key markets include China, India, South Korea and Japan.
Fahd bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Rasheed, chairman of the board of directors, Saudi Conventions & Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA), pointed out that Saudi Arabia’s business events sector has grown steadily at around nine per cent per year since SCEGA’s establishment in 2018.
Moving forward, Saudi Arabia’s business events ambitions are underpinned by a US$800 billion investment in the tourism sector, which includes the development of state-of-the-art venues designed to host large-scale events. Complementing this is a rapidly growing hospitality pipeline, with 500,0000 hotel rooms coming online by 2030, ensuring there is ample capacity to accommodate business events delegates.
“We are investing a lot in (business events) infrastructure. In Riyadh alone, we’re building one million square meters of exhibition space, adding 7,000 hotel rooms, increasing the capacity of our airport to 120 million passengers a year, and launching a new airline called Riyadh Air, which will connect us with 100 new cities around the world,” Fahd elaborated.
“With 60 per cent of the world’s population just an eight-hour flight away and direct connections to 170 international destinations, Saudi offers unparalleled accessibility for global delegates. This strategic advantage combined with its forward-thinking vision and world-class infrastructure makes Saudi the destination of choice for hosting impactful events on the global stage,” added Alhasan.
Business tourism is also a key pillar of Bahrain’s five-year tourism strategy, said Fatima bint Jaffer Al Sairafi, minister of tourism, and chairman of the Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority, during the ICCA Congress 2024 in Abu Dhabi.
“A key project supporting that is Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB), which is a gamechanger that has helped the Kingdom to position itself as a regional and international MICE hub. It is one of the biggest venues in the region with cutting-edge facilities,” she commented.
Landmark events last year include the 9th UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism and the 29th Routes World 2024, both making their inaugural appearance at EWB and in the Middle East. Together, these events attracted thousands of participants from over 100 countries, and over 100 international exhibitors.
Recently, EWB introduced an incentive programme to support major international organisers and associations to host their events in Bahrain at the venue. The programme is a collaborative effort, directly supported by Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority.
Fatima also pointed out that even though there is a mandate to promote our countries independently as a business events destination, Fatima stressed that there is “real power when we promote our countries in the GCC collectively”.
It is good news that the long-pending Unified Tourist Visa for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries has received official approval and is set for rollout soon. The visa will allow seamless travel across the six GCC nations – UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait – under a single permit. It is expected to launch by late 2025 or early 2026. – additional reporting by Rachel AJ Lee
