MEETING FACTS

General

• Dubai is one of seven emirates which make up the United Arab Emirates
• The UAE is 83,600 Sq. km. in size (slightly bigger than Scotland)
• The official weekend is Friday and Saturday
• Arabic is the official language but English is widely used
• The emirate is home to over 200 nationalities
• 10 million visitors were welcomed in 2012, 20 million expected by 2020
• The UAE does not collect income tax on businesses or individuals

Access

• Easy visa on arrival procedures for all EU nationals.
• Dubai International Airport (DXB) is the second busiest in the world
• Over 145 airlines fly to 260 destinations across six continents
• Home to the Arabian Gulf region's first metro system

Venues

• Dubai has over 625 hotel establishments offering five-star luxury to pocket-friendly comfort.
• The Dubai World Trade Centre boasts a total of one million sq. feet of meeting space.
• Most hotels in Dubai offer multi-purpose meeting and events space.

Activities

• Year-round calendar of sports, arts, culture, music, shopping and entertainment events.
• Desert activities include camping, dune bashing, and hiking
• Marine activities include diving, swimming, rowing, sailing, fishing, paddle boarding, etc.
• Over 5,300 eateries serve food from all over the world.

Key congress and convention wins

• International Dragon Award Congress will see 5,000 members of the Chinese insurance industry visit Dubai in August 2015
• Annual Conference of the International Federation of International Furniture Movers (FIDI) will see 1,000 delegates visit Dubai in May 2017
• World Congress for Brain, Spinal Cord Mapping & Therapeutics (SBMT) will see 500 specialists visit Dubai in June 2017

Major upcoming events

2014:

World Engineering Education Forum 2014 - (3-6 December 2014)

2015:

23rd Congress of the International Academy of Legal Medicine

International Dragon Award Annual Conference

2016:

World Meeting of the International Society for Sexual Medicine

Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)

Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition

Annual DISTRIPRESS Congress

2017:

Society for Brain Mapping & Therapeutics Program (SBMT) Congress

Academy of International Business Congress

2018:

World Congress of International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity & Metabolic Disorders