Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have set their sights high and developed into exciting destinations for the meetings market. Mike MacEacheran reports
It all began in the desert. English explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger crossed the Rub’ al Khali (the Empty Quarter) on camel back and became one of the first Westerners to tell the world about the people of the Gulf region, and their way of life, in his 1956 book Arabian Sands.
Dressed in a flowing white thawb robe, the Englishman held meetings with Bedouin tribesmen and Bahraini pearl divers under the relentless desert sun and, in doing so, opened up a region entirely unknown to the West and Far East. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the Gulf, arguably, fuelled the success of the new colonial trade routes from Muscat in Oman, to Dubai in the UAE, and a new cultural exchange was born.
To this day, the Gulf remains an important trade route and meeting place between Europe and Asia. Arabian hospitality has become legendary, and this is an area the meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry has been quick to capitalise on. Meanwhile, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Gulf Air have helped the region to become
a transcontinental hub.
Forging new commercial industries from their boom years as oil-rich states and key shipping routes, the UAE, Qatar and Oman have created world-class exhibition centres, ultra-luxurious resorts and self-proclaimed “seven-star” hotels. As English is widely spoken, and is the business lingua franca of the Gulf, etiquette is the same in Dubai and Doha as it is in Bangkok or Manila. While Islamic law requires alcohol to be served only in hotels, MICE event organisers are extended special treatment and
can arrange for exclusive events (where alcohol is served) to be
held outside the cities as well, in tented camps, in the heart of the sweeping deserts.
Marketed as the transport hub for the region, Dubai welcomes more than 120 airlines from around the world. The first half of last year saw Dubai’s airport welcome just over four million people, and with the opening of Jebel Ali airport (commercial flights are expected to start this summer, although it is already open for cargo), Dubai is settling in as the gateway to the Middle East.
Though the meeting and incentive industry is in its formative years, the Gulf is a region with enormous potential for destination management companies. According to research from the World Travel and Tourism Council, annual revenue from this sector in the region will increase by 89 per cent over the next ten years and will be worth some US$279 billion by 2016.
But despite its wealth of attractions, the Gulf is not a region that can be branded easily, and Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, which we talk about below, each have their own defining attributes and cultures to explore.
Dubai is undoubtedly the glamour model of the region – home to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and iconic destination hotels such as Atlantis the Palm and Jumeirah’s sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, it is a juggernaut of foreign investment, enterprise and million-dollar business deals. With a robust economy and strong exchange rate, it is an attractive meeting hub for European and Asian business groups.
Dubai has a history of hosting huge events and also has the infrastructure in place. In 2003, the city was put on the global business map when it hosted more than 16,000 delegates for the Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and it hasn’t looked back. Dubai World Trade Centre is in for another busy year – March will see the International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and Exhibition, while in April it will host the 59th International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Conference and Exhibition – apt as the Dubai Metro completed its Red line at the end of last year. The Green line is expected to be fully operational later this year.
The hotel scene has continued to expand and develop, with plenty of new hotels opening this year.
Holding the strings to the multibillion dollar sovereign purse, Abu Dhabi is only 90 minutes from Dubai by road. The city has taken a more low-key approach to its development and is focusing on its cultural and sporting offerings.
October saw the opening of Ferrari World, the world’s largest indoor theme park, beside the emirate’s pioneering Formula One track on Yas Island. Both provide options for incentive groups – for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the circuit offers a number of adrenalin-fuelled behind-the-wheel group packages for F1 and drag racing (for more information see “Meet in Abu Dhabi”, businesstraveller.com/meetings/where-to-meet-abu-dhabi). This year’s F1 race will be held on November 11-13, the penultimate race of the 2011 season.
Meanwhile, on Saadiyat Island, museums including a Louvre and a Guggenheim are under development. The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), which has 12 halls totalling 55,000 sqm, hosts events as diverse as the International Defence Exhibition and Conference, and the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference. To cater for the vast numbers of visitors, there are several new hotels opening on Saadiyat this year (see panel, right) and 2012-13 will see another Rotana on the island, as well as a Shangri-La and a Mandarin Oriental.
There is no doubt the capital can attract visitors – the target for 2010 was 1.65 million hotel guests, and an extra 4,145 rooms are due for completion this year. The target for 2012 is 2.5 million hotel guests and 29,100 rooms and Abu Dhabi is aiming for 7.9 million visitors and 74,000 hotel rooms by 2030.
Last year saw the opening of the 588-room Grand Millennium Al Wahda (which also has 260 serviced apartments) and Rotana’s 443-room Rayhaan Khalidiya Palace. This year will be a busy one too, while hotels to open 2012-2013, in Abu Dhabi, include a W, a Rosewood and a Four Seasons. The city is also home to the iconic Emirates Palace hotel – the ballroom can cater for 2,400 guests.
The eyes of the world will be on Qatar in 2022 when it plays host to the FIFA World Cup, but there’s plenty already going on in the capital.
The New Doha International airport is due to open in 2012, but in the meantime Qatar Airways has just opened its new arrivals terminal for first and business class passengers at the existing facility. Qatar Airways’ group chief executive Akbar Al Baker says: “The new Doha arrivals facility will greatly assist the airline’s expansion plans between now and the opening of the new airport. The new arrivals terminal will serve a vital function for the State of Qatar, which is experiencing a massive surge in economic growth and an influx of visitors.”
To cope with the increase in visitors, Doha has seen plenty of top-end hotels opening in the past two years – Marriott and Rotana opened properties at the end of last year, while Shangri-La will unveil a 272-room hotel this year. By 2013 there will be 30,000 rooms available in the city and it’s not just the luxury end moving in – a Premier Inn is planned in Education City, where the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) is opening its doors in the summer. About 20 minutes’ drive from the centre of Doha, the QNCC will be one of the region’s largest conference and meetings venues, with exhibition space, business lounges, prayer rooms and catering facilities occupying three levels, along with a 4,000-capacity conference hall, a 2,300-seat theatre and 57 meeting rooms.
As well as the QNCC, Doha will add the 400-metre-tall Doha Convention Centre and Tower in 2012. A project by Qatari Diar, the same company developing the Chelsea Barracks in the UK, the complex on the Corniche will have a 105-storey tower and 100,000 sqm of event space, as well as 80 serviced apartments, a 300-room hotel and a shopping mall.
For the vast numbers of delegates flooding in, there is plenty to do in terms of incentives, with options including falconry, Arabian horse riding, and dune-bashing in 4x4 cars. The new Mathaf – Arab Museum of Modern Art also opened in December.
Aditi Eid, director of MICE sales at tour operator Qatar International Adventures says: “MICE is fun here for both the organiser and the participants. You land at a new airport and think – what is so special here? Then you walk out into the warmth of the desert sun and are whisked off down a seven-mile road lined with palm trees and flowers to a lovely hotel. Then it hits you: ‘Wow, what a hotel, what a corniche. This is Arabia’” n
Visit dubaitourism.ae, visitabudhabi.ae, qatartourism.gov.qa
Five dubai hotels due to open this year
- Jumeirah Al Fattan Palm Resort
- Conrad Dubai
- Fairmont Palm Hotel and Resort
- Royal Amwaj Resort and Spa (Movenpick Hotels and Resorts)
- Palazzo Versace
