Major trade shows to relocate to Expo City Dubai

Expo City Dubai

• Expo City at heart of event plan
• Exhibition Centre expanding
• New hotels being added

Dubai is to relocate its major trade shows next year from the World Trade Centre to the sprawling Expo City, 20 miles away.

The move is a significant step in transforming the Expo City site into a centre for big events, businesses and sustainable living, a senior official has confirmed.

“As of next year, all exhibitions will move to the Dubai Exhibition Centre,” said Nadim Badran, director of commercial and engagement at Expo City Dubai.

Expo City opened in October 2022 near Al Maktoum International Airport, on the site of Expo 2020, and hosted the recent Cop28 climate conference. It is being positioned as a cornerstone of Dubai’s future development under the 2040 urban master plan. 

It is at the heart of the city’s ambitions to double annual events from 300 to 600 by 2033, as part of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33).

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The Dubai Exhibition Centre is undergoing a more than fourfold expansion from 40,000 square metres to 180,000 sq m to accommodate the influx of trade shows, Badran said.

Prominent events, including Gitex (technology), Arab Health, and The Big Five (construction), are among those expected to relocate because they have outgrown the World Trade Centre.

Badran said it was “a no-brainer for me” to move to Expo City for a business thinking about where to move its offices. 

Expo City aims to host 40,000 business professionals and 35,000 residents, with the first residential projects expected to be completed by early 2026, Badran said.

The site already hosts more than 50 companies within a business freezone, with commercial LEED-certified buildings reducing utility costs for tenants by 10 to 15 percent. 

Badran said he expected the number of companies setting up in the freezone to “expand hugely”.

• New Expo City plan to drive Dubai’s economic growth

• Dubai allocates $2.7bn to expand Exhibition Centre

• Construction begins at Expo City Dubai site

Plans are also under way to add four to five hotels to support the growing events calendar, including trade shows, at Expo City. Badran said there was room for more hotels, along with other investment opportunities.

“We want forward-thinking companies to work with us to develop the city,” he said.

Dubai’s willingness to host global events has reshaped perceptions of the city, according to Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade.

“Many still stereotype us based on our neighbours,” Al Zeyoudi said earlier this week. 

“But these events bring people here. They see how open, progressive, and developed the nation is, and they attach to it.”