Category Archives: Exhibitions

Al Hai project in partnership with Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and Emaar. Featuring immersive, innovative and sustainable art installations that were four months in the making, Al Hai is electrifying the buzzing Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, opposite the Address Downtown hotel, through specially installed lights and clever use of shadows. Commenting on Dubai Culture’s participation in this initiative, Shaima Rashed Al Suwaidi, Director of Marketing & Corporate Communication, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Arts & Literature Sector at Dubai Culture, said, “Dubai Lights is an innovative event that aligns with the aspirations of our inspiring leadership and reflects the keenness of Dubai Culture to collaborate with various government and private agencies to enrich the cultural and aesthetic scene of our emirate.” Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), said, “Al Hai is a wonderful and intriguing addition to the packed lineup of entertainment and activities on offer throughout this edition of DSF. The artistic project truly captures the essence and unique nature of the traditional Emirati neighbourhoods that can be found across Dubai by inviting visitors to explore their unmistakable landmarks and architectural features through the highly innovative use of immersive lighting techniques.“AlHai’s light creations will be instantly familiar to long-time Dubai residents and also welcoming to visitors who will be able to stroll through an entire neighbourhood just by following the different installations in place along Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard.”

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will be the host of the World Congress of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS World Congress) 2024, which marks the first time this signature event is held in the region since launched in 1994. RTA was privileged by hosting the event following its nomination by ITS Europe, an organisation to which RTA has recently been affiliated. The Congress is supported by three prominent entities of the industry, namely ITS Europe, ITS America, and ITS Asia-Pacific. His Excellency Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, said, “Hosting the ITS World Congress 2024 in Dubai underscores the rising global standing of the Emirate in the field of ITS, the confidence of such reputed entities in the role of Dubai, and the ability of the city to stage successful global events.” “The hosting of the Congress comes in light of the massive steps made by Dubai in advancing ITS as witnessed by the portfolio of smart projects undertaken by RTA in anticipation of the future such as intelligent transport centres, and self-driving transport as well as the enablers of the 4th Industrial Revolution such as the IoT, AI applications, machine learning, big data, robotics, and mobility power solutions,” said Al Tayer. “RTA is keen to keep abreast of the Government’s future directions of transforming Dubai into a smart, innovative and sustainable city that uses cutting-edge telecommunication and digital technologies. In this regard, RTA is proceeding ahead with the Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy aimed at converting 25% of total mobility journeys in Dubai to smart self-driving journeys by 2030. As such, advancing the smart mobility is based on three elements: customer’s …

Philippine government has announced that the construction of the Philippines Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai has already reached 87 per cent completion. Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (PDTI) and Commissioner General Secretary Ramon Lopez said that ‘Bangkóta’ is on track of its scheduled handover in March 2021, with the teams involved exerting full efforts. Bangkóta also highlights the country’s passion for sustainability—sourcing majority of its materials from the local markets of UAE. According to Lopez, such readily available materials are among the contributing factors that led to them staying on track of their schedule despite the movement restrictions caused by the pandemic. Lopez said, “The Pavilion’s concept, including the materials to be used, has been well thought of by the creators, a reason it became easier for the team to go ahead and build the design. While recent restrictions brought about by the pandemic posed a challenge, they also unleashed within the team their resourcefulness and creativity—allowing them to pull such magnificent work without any delays.” Omar Shehadeh, Chief International Participants Officer, International Participants at Expo 2020 Dubai, also commended the efficiency of the team in terms of the construction of the pavilion, saying, “The sheer passion of the people behind the Philippines Pavilion is truly commendable, and I am honoured to have witnessed their creativity and hard work coming to life through Bangkóta. I am confident that Filipinos in the UAE will be further proud of their identity once they get to witness what the Philippine team has prepared for them in the upcoming Expo 2020.” Hjayceelyn Quintana, Philippine Ambassador to the UAE , for her part, expressed her pride for the team behind the pavilion, saying, “This …

Dubai Airshow is set to return for its 17th edition on November 14-18, 2021, to be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence. One of the most successful air shows in the world, the event will be held with the support of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Dubai Airports, the UAE Ministry of Defence and Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects and organised by Tarsus F& E Middle East. The event will be the only Airshow of its kind to take place in a live format, highlighting Dubai’s leading response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the world-class safety measures implemented in the emirate. Dubai Airshow will be the most important and critical point of convergence in 2021 where the future of global aerospace industry will be showcased and analysed. Welcoming experts from commercial and business aviation, defence and military, aircraft interiors, air traffic management, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), space and air cargo, the show will serve as an ideal platform for re-thinking strategies, navigating uncertainty and scaling up operations to ensure the smooth re-establishment of the industry in general. Tim Hawes, Managing Director of Tarsus F & E commented, “The Dubai Airshow 2021 will demonstrate the evolution of the aerospace industry and the fast acceleration of digitalisation as a result of the pandemic. The event brings together the entire aerospace ecosystem, showcasing the latest technology and innovation from across the industry. The industry has been impacted significantly by COVID-19 and we are excited to use the Airshow as a platform to demonstrate the necessity of the aerospace and aviation industries and …

ITB China organizers have announced to launch an ITB China Special Edition in 2021. The two-day business event will make its debut in Beijing from May 7 – 8,  2021, to deliver an innovative showcase for business exchanges while providing a stage for sharing industry insights for the travel industry. The regular edition of ITB China 2021, together with the accompanying ITB China Conference in Shanghai, is being rescheduled to November 24-26, 2021. “Fueled by promising news about vaccine developments we all anticipate upward trends in 2021. The way to real market recovery, however, will be a steady and gradual one that our industry will have to walk jointly in order to reach a post pandemic new normal”, said David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China, further adding, “As the next major milestone, ITB China is once again leading the way with a tailor-made event format, the ITB China Special Edition 2021. Taking place in Beijing in spring next year, we expect a promising outlook on cross-border travel and emerging business opportunities at that time. Lastly, ITB China 2021 in Shanghai is set to once again serve as the leading platform to connect with the world’s largest travel source market, strategically rescheduled to the end of the year, paving the way for a strong rebound of the industry in 2022.” “The progressive recovery of the Chinese travel market is a highly encouraging sign to the tourism sector in Europe. Together with our members, we will continue monitoring the latest changes in the industry and building on our close cooperation with Chinese partners to prepare for a speedy recovery of international travel as soon as the health situation allows,” said Eduardo …

Recent ‘Global Holiday Intent’ survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organiser of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), has revealed that residents in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the most likely to make an international trip in 2021. The poll, which was conducted during October and November 2020, asked recipients if they were planning to make an international trip within the next 12 months and 48% of those polled in the UAE confirmed their intent to travel, with Saudi Arabia coming in a close second with 46% of respondents confirming their intent to travel abroad in 2021. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, which will take place live at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) May 16-19, 2021, said, “This survey was conducted before the most recent announcements about COVID-19 vaccines, so in many respects this is even better news for the Middle East’s aviation sector. Nearly half of those polled, confirmed that they intended to travel in 2021 and once vaccines have been rolled out around the world, those numbers can only increase.” “In terms of outbound travel, many expatriates will be looking for a relaxing holiday or hoping to travel home to see family and friends. In terms of inbound travel, it was welcome news that almost a third of Germans polled said that they intended to travel internationally – Germany is one of largest European feeder markets to the GCC, 1.8 million overnight stays in 2018. Indeed, over 316,000 Germans visited Dubai between January and June 2019. Much of the domestic travel in Asia will no doubt be linked to Chinese New Year, which is due to take place on February …

Digital forum will be focusing on Israel as the new travel destination for UAE travellers. Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) is all set to host its inaugural tourism forum on the December 16, 2020, following the normalization agreement with UAE. The aim of the forum is to highlight the new developments between the two nations and to showcase the tourism offerings of Israel to the travel trade of UAE. Israel’s Minister of Tourism, Orit Farkash-Hacohen will open the forum to welcome the participants. Panelists will include other officials from the Ministry who will present opportunities of Israel as a leisure and a MICE destination. Representatives from Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem Development Authority will also have their presence to promote the uniqueness of the two main gems of Israel. Along with the travel trade fraternity from UAE, this webinar will also be attended by partners from Israel. Followed after the forum, Israel’s Tourism Minister will also be addressing the media for an exclusive press briefing to discuss the strategy of the Ministry of Tourism to attract tourists from the UAE.

The Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) has announced that the region’s leading business aviation platform, the MEBAA Show, has been rescheduled to its original date cycle and will now take place in December 2022 at DWC, Airshow Site. The event has been cancelled due to concerns related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and international travel restrictions imposed across numerous countries around the world. Ali Ahmed Alnaqbi, Founding and Executive Chairman of MEBAA commented, “As a result of the ongoing challenges with global border restrictions and lockdowns, we have decided to realign the MEBAA Show with its original dates and postpone it again to 2022. All recent indications suggest that the business aviation sector will make a strong recovery in the coming years and the MEBAA Show will play an important role in restoring confidence, driving collaboration and creating new opportunities for the sector.”

Louvre Abu Dhabi and NYU Abu Dhabi saw the conclusion of Reframing Museums, the three-day virtual symposium. This first co-hosted virtual edition saw over 1,000 participants registered to hear from a diverse group of more than 70 speakers, moderators and facilitators from five continents, all gathered to address the current challenges and opportunities for arts and culture institutions the world over. With the symposium reaching capacity prior to the launch, free access to recordings of the sessions have been made available to the public, on both the Reframing Museums website and dedicated YouTube channel. Louvre Abu Dhabi and NYUAD also announced the publication of content from the symposium, by Akkadia Press, which will be available from next summer. HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said, “In Abu Dhabi and all over the world, this has been a year of physical separation, but happily in many other ways our global society has been brought closer together. We will only succeed in securing our future as a collective – in our shared wisdom, determination, and resilience – all reaffirmed by the many voices who joined us for this virtual symposium. This platform of open debate mirrors the message echoing through the halls of the world’s great museums and educational institutions: we must celebrate universality, and address what it means to truly accept and understand one another. “This symposium is not a one-time opportunity; arts and culture are at the centre of Abu Dhabi’s agenda, as we continually harness the power of culture to expand minds and hearts. Reframing Museums reflects our core values of openness and understanding, and we look forward to …

Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) has announced details of its comprehensive 2021 Retail Calendar, with citywide events, activations and experiences set to fully support the emirate’s economic and tourist development goals.Created to attract both residents and visitors to the city’s impressive line-up of destinations, attractions and world-class malls, the calendar is packed with 15 festival campaigns spread throughout 2021. With this year’s Dubai Fitness Challenge and Diwali currently underway, plus the UAE National Day celebrations poised to begin, the announcement of DFRE’s annual programme for 2021 reinforces the city’s status as the premier destination for holidays as well as memorable lifestyle and retail experiences. Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) said, “The announcement of a new, full, busy and exciting calendar of retail events in Dubai for 2021 is a positive indication of progress from this year. We have learned many lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic; with the events of 2020 helping to shape a new focus on what is required to host major events in the months and years ahead. The new 2021 calendar offers a strategic platform of retail events, promotions and entertainment that will help to ensure Dubai stays safe and at the forefront of the world’s important retail destinations. Dubai’s retail sector is an area of major economic importance, and by working closely with our strategic partners, we will continue to provide opportunities for sustainable growth and development and achieve the emirate’s retail and tourism objectives.”