As Dubai strengthens its position as a global hub for business tourism, the spotlight has shifted to the next phase of its exhibition infrastructure strategy. The recent hosting of Gulfood and World Health Expo at Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) emphasised the scale of demand for large, sector-defining events, with healthcare leaders, exhibitors and policymakers converging at the venue.
At the centre of this expansion drive is the phased growth of DEC, led by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), which plans to increase capacity to 140,000 square metres by Q1 2026 and to 180,000 square metres by 2031. The expansion aligns with Dubai’s broader economic agenda and its ambition to double the number of events hosted annually by 2033.
Here, Mahir Julfar, EVP at DWTC, discusses the rationale behind the phased rollout, the operational lessons from co-hosting major events such as Gulfood and World Health Expo across multiple venues, and how DEC is being positioned as a large-scale, purpose-built platform for the next generation of global exhibitions.
Phase 1 of the DEC Expansion delivers 140,000 sqm by Q1 2026, with full buildout to 180,000 sqm by 2031. What’s driving the phased approach, and what early wins or demand signals are you seeing that validate the scale and ambition of this expansion?
Dubai’s sustained economic momentum and its continued rise as a global convening hub are closely aligned with the strong structural growth of the international MICE industry. The global market is forecast to grow to$1.30tn by 2030, underpinned by increasing demand for high-impact, purpose-driven events that deliver measurable business outcomes.
The three-phase expansion of the DEC has been intentionally designed as a market-led and strategically phased programme that balances immediate capacity requirements with long-term growth ambitions, while safeguarding operational resilience. This approach reflects our responsibility to anticipate the future needs of the global MICE industry while responding decisively to clear and present demand.
The delivery of Phase 1, which will bring total capacity to 140,000 square metres by Q1 2026, is grounded in strong and observable demand from global exhibitions and large-scale international events. The MICE sector continues to demonstrate sustained growth, and Dubai’s role as a convening hub for priority industries under the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) is accelerating at pace.
The full expansion to 180,000 square metres by 2031 ensures that we retain the flexibility required to support the next phase of growth in mega exhibitions, the development of new intellectual property events and greater sector diversification.
Early performance indicators already validate both the scale and timing of this expansion. At the start of this year, Gulfood was successfully co-hosted across both Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and DEC for the first time, demonstrating our ability to scale a flagship global event across multiple venues while maintaining operational continuity and a seamless visitor experience. This milestone provided tangible, real-world validation of our phased expansion strategy. Building on this momentum, World Health Expo (WHX), including WHX Labs, was also co-located across venues in early February.
These demand signals are further reinforced by the continued expansion of existing DWTC events in terms of scale, duration and international participation, alongside rising demand for the simultaneous hosting of multiple events. This reflects both increasing sector diversification and our ambition to double the number of events hosted annually by 2033.
Importantly, the expansion of DEC is closely aligned with the city’s long-term growth drivers, including the evolution of Expo City Dubai as a global economic hub, the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport, all of which underpin sustained growth in business tourism and reinforce Dubai’s global competitiveness in the MICE sector.
You’re positioning DEC as the region’s largest purpose-built indoor venue by 2031. With Dubai’s track record of delivering iconic infrastructure and Expo City’s ready ecosystem, what structural advantages do you have that competitors in Riyadh, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi will find hard to replicate?
At the core of this differentiation is Dubai’s demonstrated ability to deliver complex, globally significant projects with consistency and certainty. Dubai World Trade Centre brings more than four decades of operational and development expertise, underpinned by the successful delivery of large-scale, mixed-use assets and globally recognised venues. For international organisers and associations, this translates into reduced execution risk, operational maturity and confidence in long-term partnership. In an industry where reliability, repeatability and delivery certainty are paramount, this track record is a decisive factor.
Equally important is the fact that DEC operates within a fully activated economic ecosystem rather than as a standalone venue. Located at the heart of Expo City Dubai, DEC benefits from an integrated, live environment that already combines transport infrastructure, hospitality, commercial space, residential communities and public realm assets.
From an operational perspective, the venue’s design is aligned with global best practices and future event requirements. By 2031, DEC will offer more than 180,000 square metres of flexible, single-level exhibition space, enabling the hosting of a single global mega-event or multiple concurrent international exhibitions.
Beyond physical infrastructure, Dubai’s regulatory and business environment acts as a powerful force multiplier. Visa facilitation, a mature free-zone ecosystem, ease of doing business and an open, globally connected economy extend the value of every event beyond its duration. Exhibitors and delegates can establish companies, sign deals and expand regionally within the same ecosystem, transforming events from episodic gatherings into long-term economic anchors.
Ultimately, the scale of DEC is driven by a clearly articulated economic mandate to support Dubai’s ambition to double the number of annual events and triple economic impact by 2033. This ensures that growth remains demand-led, globally relevant and fully integrated into the city’s long-term economic agenda, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a leading global hub for business tourism and the MICE industry.
Hosting Gulfood Global and World Health Expo across two venues in Q1 2026 is operationally ambitious. What innovations in mobility, visitor experience, or event technology are you implementing that could set new global benchmarks for how mega-events are managed at scale?
Running events concurrently across DWTC and DEC requires citywide coordination. We have worked to develop deep and strong citywide partnerships, including with RTA and Dubai Police, from which we can build integrated transport, mobility and security frameworks.
The Dubai Metro Red Line connects directly to DEC via Expo 2020 Station – Dubai’s largest metro station – with increased frequency during peak periods. We’ve established 30 dedicated shuttle buses between DWTC and DEC, plus Park & Ride facilities at key metro stations to manage citywide visitor flow.
Within DEC, 80 shuttle services run continuously between the parking and the arrival plaza. The temporary pavilions connect directly to the main halls and the central plaza, with outdoor F&B areas enhancing the visitor experience.
What makes this different is the level of coordination between venue operations and citywide transport infrastructure. This requires a coordinated city-scale approach that ensures efficiency from arrival to departure. We believe this could set a new standard for how cities handle mega-events.
This approach was applied during Gulfood’s first edition, which operated across both DICEC and DEC, ensuring seamless movement and a consistent experience for exhibitors and visitors across both locations.
With 26 interconnected halls capable of hosting more than 20 simultaneous events by 2031, you’re creating unprecedented density and co-location opportunities. What types of synergies or cross-pollination between events do you expect, and how could this model attract new event formats or exhibitor behaviours that weren’t possible before?
The 26 interconnected halls create something fundamentally different – an ecosystem where events can run independently or work together.
We see two main types of synergy. First, vertical integration within industries: concurrent events spanning an entire value chain. Healthcare is a good example – medical technology, pharmaceuticals, digital health and hospital infrastructure all in one location at WHX. A similar model was evident during Gulfood, where scale and adjacency across venues enabled broader discovery across the food and beverage ecosystem without fragmenting the visitor journey.
Second, horizontal connections: complementary sectors like food technology next to packaging innovation, or sustainability conferences alongside cleantech exhibitions. This enables new formats. Multi-track conferences can expand across halls. Startups at one event can meet investors from neighbouring conferences. Buyers can discover related solutions without leaving the venue. For exhibitors, the business case changes. They can be present at multiple events, reach different audiences and maintain year-round visibility in one location – efficiency that traditional models can’t match.
By 2031, we expect event formats designed specifically around these co-location opportunities – industry weeks and innovation festivals that use the venue’s capacity to host multiple audiences simultaneously.
Dubai Exhibition Centre incorporates LEED certification, advanced energy and water efficiency systems, and is embedded in Expo City’s sustainable urban infrastructure. How is sustainability becoming a commercial differentiator in winning international event bids, and what feedback are you getting from organisers about Dubai’s green credentials?
At DWTC, sustainability is not viewed as an operational add-on, but as a core pillar of our long-term competitiveness and value creation within the global MICE industry. As client expectations, regulatory frameworks and investor scrutiny continue to evolve, our focus has been on embedding sustainability across the entire DWTC ecosystem in a way that is measurable, scalable and commercially relevant. This includes how we design and operate our venues, how we partner with organisers and suppliers, and how we align with Dubai’s wider sustainability and net-zero ambitions. The objective is clear: to ensure that growth in scale and economic impact is matched by responsible delivery and long-term resilience.
Within this framework, DEC plays a pivotal role. DEC has been conceived and developed as a future-ready venue, incorporating LEED-certified design principles, advanced energy and water efficiency systems, and direct integration into Expo City Dubai’s sustainable urban infrastructure.
What differentiates DEC is not a single sustainability feature, but the fact that it operates within a purpose-built ecosystem where transport connectivity, public realm planning, hospitality and utilities are aligned around reducing environmental impact. This enables the delivery of large-scale, international events with lower carbon intensity, without compromising on capacity, experience or operational efficiency, an increasingly critical requirement for mega-events and global exhibitions.
From the organiser’s perspective, sustainability has become a decisive commercial differentiator in the bidding process. International associations and large global organisers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate credible ESG performance, carbon accountability and responsible event delivery to their stakeholders. We are seeing sustainability considerations move from being a “nice to have” to a core evaluation criterion alongside venue scale, connectivity and cost. Organisers are looking for destinations that can support their sustainability commitments with reliable data, transparent reporting and proven operational capability, rather than aspirational pledges.
The feedback we receive reflects this shift. Organisers increasingly recognise Dubai’s progress in translating sustainability ambition into practical, deliverable outcomes at scale. They value the fact that sustainability at DWTC and DEC is embedded, measurable and continuously evolving, giving them confidence that their events can meet today’s environmental standards while remaining future-proof as expectations continue to rise.
Expo City Dubai offers direct metro access, 5G connectivity, diverse F&B, and a festival-style outdoor environment during cooler months. How are you leveraging this destination appeal to create experiences that go beyond traditional exhibition halls, and what role does placemaking play in your long-term vision for DEC?
Dubai Exhibition Centre reimagines the exhibition experience by placing it within a vibrant urban destination. Traditional centres isolate attendees in convention halls. DEC places them within Expo City’s walkable districts, restaurants and cultural spaces.
Placemaking is central to our approach. The venue has an open-air plaza with over 50 food trucks, a smart mini market and various F&B options from casual dining to premium lounges. During cooler months, outdoor spaces become festival-style environments where business meets lifestyle and culture. This extends dwell time, encourages networking beyond sessions and creates experiences that differentiate DEC.
Expo City’s infrastructure supports this. Direct metro access eliminates transport issues. 6G-ready connectivity supports business operations. The surrounding cafes, restaurants and entertainment options create an environment where attendees naturally stay longer.
Long-term, we see DEC as a destination where events are starting points, rather than endpoints or add-ons. Attendees come for an exhibition and then stay to explore Expo City’s innovation districts and cultural offerings. Organisers benefit because their exhibitors reach audiences beyond exhibition hours.
This transforms how the industry thinks about venues, from square metreage to complete destination experience. We’re providing an environment where business outcomes improve because the surrounding context enhances every part of the attendee journey.
GITEX Global has become one of the world’s largest and most influential tech events, consistently breaking records at DWTC. As DEC comes online with vastly expanded capacity, is there a vision for GITEX or similar tech-focused mega-events to eventually migrate or expand to DEC, and how does the new venue’s infrastructure support the next generation of innovation-driven exhibitions?
As one of the world’s most influential tech events, GITEX has consistently pushed our existing DWTC infrastructure to its limits. DEC’s capacity and technology infrastructure are designed to support GITEX’s evolution and the next generation of tech exhibitions.
Dubai Exhibition Centre’s infrastructure, including that 6G-ready connectivity I mentioned earlier, provides the foundation for showcasing emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing and extended reality that need substantial bandwidth and low latency. The 26 interconnected halls enable the co-located innovation ecosystems that define leading global tech events.
This infrastructure supports new formats: large-scale product launches needing broadcast-quality connectivity, live demonstrations of autonomous systems requiring extensive space, or startup pavilions alongside enterprise exhibitions. The flexible pavilion space allows for rapid configuration changes that tech events increasingly need.
Whether GITEX migrates, expands or operates across both venues depends on the event’s direction and requirements. What is certain is that DEC provides infrastructure to support GITEX’s ambitions, and those of other innovation-driven events, at whatever scale they need. The venue enables organisers to think bigger and go beyond what they currently imagine to be possible.
