His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President Of The Department Of Civil Aviation, CEO and Chairman of The Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai World Opens The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show Dubai 2015

The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show Dubai, the leading events for the hospitality and leisure industry in the Middle East and Africa, were opened this morning for their 2015 editions by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation, CEO and Chairman of The Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai World.

Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), provided the keynote speech opening The Hotel Show’s Vision Conference for 2015. He said: “The Hotel Show is one of the most important annual events in our calendar at Dubai Tourism and has played a significant part in driving the hospitality sector by bringing hoteliers together, facilitating partnerships, improving market analysis and understanding, and ensuring alignment with Dubai’s overall tourism vision. The hotel sector in general is the backbone of Dubai’s tourism industry, and it is the calibre of the emirate’s accommodation offerings that has helped shape the high standards and reputation that Dubai enjoys and is known for. Hotels and hospitality have a great part to play in realising Dubai’s Tourism Vision for 2020, which aims to welcome 20 million visitors per year by the start of the next decade. Dubai welcomed 13.2 million international overnight visitors in 2014, so while much progress has already been made, there is still much to achieve. Together, facilitated by the Hotel Show, we can reach and exceed our goals, and drive success and prosperity within the tourism industry as whole.”

Speaking on The Leisure Show, co-located with The Hotel Show, he continued: “With ambitious targets for 2020, an increasingly competitive marketplace targeting the global traveller and challenges to the international travel industry posed by currency devaluations in Asia and Europe, now more than ever we need to ensure we are focused on providing a compelling and always evolving destination offer. The leisure industry has a sizeable role to play and as we look towards next year when our offering will be significantly enhanced by the opening of a number of theme parks, it’s crucial that these big projects are complimented by continuous additions in other areas, always ensuring that there are more and more reasons to visit Dubai.”

Christine Davidson, Group event director of the dmg events hospitality portfolio including The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show said: “There is much anticipation and excitement around the future of hospitality, leisure and tourism in the Middle East and Africa. There is evidence of unprecedented growth in the region, with a total 872 projects and 243,466 rooms in the pipeline as of September 2015. Given that Dubai continues to be the leading city in the region with 119 projects currently underway, The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show provide local and international suppliers and owners of hotels and leisure facilities with the unique opportunity to do business in a world class destination that is investing heavily in the future of hospitality.”

The events will run for three days, 28-30 September at the Dubai World Trade Centre, expected to welcome over 18,000 professionals from the hospitality and leisure industry to a showcase of 1000’s of global brands providing everything needed to build, operate and maintain hotels and leisure facilities.

An extensive content programme also runs throughout the events with live demonstrations, awards (The Middle East Pool & Spa Awards 2015), workshops and presentations featuring over 100 expert speakers from Dubai Tourism, Dubai Sports Council, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Nakheel, Google, NEC, Cisco, Melia Hotels International, Paramount Hotels & Resorts, Yas Waterworld, Deloitte, PwC, and more.