Double date, double value.

(From Gulf Construction)

Dubai Several hundreds of interior specialists, furniture manufacturers and suppliers of hotel and offices products from all over the world will showcase the best in technology, products and services at two major shows in Dubai this month

Organised by dmg world media Dubai, The Hotel Show, and the Office Exhibition will run concurrently from May 22 to 24 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), and spotlight the latest in furniture, interiors and supplies for offices, hotels and related sectors

''The Hotel Show is the most important trade fair for the hospitality industry in the Arabian Gulf and the essential international showcase for hotel and hospitality products, services and technologies,'' comments Bernard Walsh, director, dmg world media Dubai. ''A total of 306 companies from 33 countries, including nine national pavilions, took part in the event last year.'' Commenting on the significance of these shows, he says: ''With the UAE leading the way, business and tourist destinations throughout the Arabian Gulf are urgently seeking professional assistance, products, services and equipment to support their ambitious development plans. ''Across the region, the number of hotels has increased from 978 in 2001 to 1,391 in 2003. Dubai alone plans to build another 150 new hotels, with tourist traffic expected to surge to 15 million per annum by 2005, from 4.7 million in 2002. The hotel sector is booming extraordinarily and Dubai is leading the way with the creation of the most spectacular hotels, followed by the rest of the region. ''Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have all realised how significantly tourism can impact their economies and are developing facilities to attract people. The building of top-rate hotels is a significant element of that strategy." Pointing out similar developments in the office sector, he says that the UAE, again, highlights the large-scale development in the region with plans to spend more than $20 billion in the next five years on constructing new infrastructure projects, while not discounting such projects as the Bahrain Financial Harbour in Bahrain

''Examples of new projects include the new Dubai Business Bay, Jebel Ali Airport and the ever-growing Dubailand project as well as Burj Dubai and The World, which are constantly encouraging globally-recognised companies to set up base in the region. The scale of such developments directly benefit the Office Exhibition where exhibitors will be clamouring to showcase products and services to a truly international audience,'' he says. As one of the busiest markets for construction in the world, Dubai is attracting new players from around the globe giving a clear indication to the market that with the current level of infrastructure development, an office show creates a much-needed niche trade show for the region. The fourth edition of the office show, Office 2005, is the largest in four years, surpassing last year's record of 150 exhibitors from 30 countries. It will see a large Portuguese presence for the first time, besides international support from the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, Italy, Malaysia, Germany and Greece. The dedicated Portuguese pavilion will present ...