The Middle East and beyond: Middle East Exclusive 2006

Gavin Lipsith

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On the eve of the fourth Middle East Exclusive exhibition – to be held in Dubai on November 22-29 - director John Kennedy tells DFNI eXTRA why the event is growing, who will be at this year’s show and why it is important to have a regional exhibition.

RavenFox.com: Can you tell me anything about the visitor and exhibitor numbers expected at the show this year compared with previous years?

Kennedy: “The exhibition is growing hand-in-hand with developments in the region, particularly in the UAE and the Gulf states. I wouldn’t want to give figures, but the increase in visitors and exhibitors is on a par with our expectations”

Which new exhibitors are you particularly excited about this year?

“Traveller International is exhibiting with us for the first time and we are very excited about that, they are a very big company in the region and we are delighted that they have decided to support us.

“Also new is the Irish pavilion, organised by the Irish government agency for fine food and liquor. A range of suppliers will be exhibiting at their stand within the liquor section of the exhibition. And of course we are very pleased to have the continued support of the German government with the German pavilion, which has been at the show for the past two years. It has grown into a very big stand.”

What factors have contributed to the success of Middle East Exclusive as a regular feature of the travel-retail event calendar?

“The benefit of MEE is that due to the location we have a very broad catchment area in terms of visitors. There are the duty-free retailers and airports, but beyond that in the luxury market we are aggressively targeting hotels and shopping malls, particularly in the UAE and Gulf states – for example there is a big new luxury mall here in Dubai, Mall of the Emirates, and that is the type of company we are targeting at MEE.

“We are also targeting the Indian sub-continent, and I think MEE caters to their needs much more than other shows. For example along with luxury goods you will also find a lot of destination products here, and the kind of products you would expect airports in Delhi, Mumbai or Cochin to sell. I know that the Alpha Asia delegation will be there, fresh from winning the Delhi airport concession.

“We also market to the former CIS countries, as traditionally passengers from the old Soviet Union were very used to passing through Dubai and we get healthy visitor levels from those countries. And also to sub-Saharan Africa, in particular the more affluent African countries.

“I think part of the reason for the show’s success is that Dubai is such a cosmopolitan  place and everyone feels comfortable coming here.”

What’s new around the show this year?

“We introduced an internet café last year, and we will have that again this year. We have also upgraded the press office as we get a lot of press attending the show, both in the travel-retail, local and international media. We have put in a nice restaurant, the idea being to keep visitors within the show, and we are offering VIP meeting rooms where people can hold discussions if they want to get away from the stands.”

What are your thoughts on the political concerns in the surrounding region, for example the Iraq conflict and the recent Israel-Lebanon conflict. Do you foresee that they will affect the growth of the show, and regional travel-retail in general?

“MEE was introduced at the time of the second Iraq war , and there have been many political problems in the greater Middle East area since then. It hasn’t affected the growth of the exhibition and it clearly hasn’t affected the growth of sales in the region, which have risen dramatically. So I don’t think it will be a major concern in the future, and it certainly hasn’t affected development plans across the region.”