Major hospitality players from across the world are planning to check-in to Dubai this May for The Hotel Show, the Middle East’s longest-running and most influential hospitality trade show in the region, with national pavilions already committed by Germany, France, and Italy.
Scheduled to run at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 23-25, the show is witnessing a surge in international exhibitor interests as the region is on the receiving end of bullish hospitality outlooks. US information services provider Lodging Econometrics has forecast the region will see 123 new hotel openings with 30,113 rooms this year, with a further 116 hotels and 29,085 rooms opening next year, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt being the main investor choices.
“Big, global brands are looking to break into this thriving market and see The Hotel Show as the perfect conduit to network and do real business with thousands of like-minded industry professionals. They all want to take their business with the region to the next level through collaboration and alliances. They are coming to Dubai expecting to do business, and perceive the show as a platform to seal and generate more tangible leads,” said Elaine O’Connell, Vice President, Design & Hospitality, dmg events, which organises the show.
Key names in the exhibitor line-up include Egyptian Porcelain, Turkey’s Kutahya Porselen, Italy’s Abert, Germany’s Karcher, and the UAE’s Danube Hospitality and Naffco. As the world’s biggest porcelain tableware producer, Kutahya Porselen believes its production and design capabilities, regional proximity, and competitive pricing will score big with Middle Eastern hospitality operators. “We’d like to shape the future together with our business partners. We understand the region and its tastes, and as our production techniques are sustainably guided, we can assure buyers that our products will meet any exacting environmental considerations, which is an increasing concern in the region,” said Sema Gural Surmeli, Chairwoman of Kutahya Porselen.
Professional cleaning machine producer Karcher is looking to the show to expand its already substantial Middle East market share via new products to meet the region’s increasing trend towards EHS regulations.
“Sustainable hygiene management is now standard practice in the region’s hotel and restaurant sector,” said Karcher’s Regional Key Account Manager – Hospitality, Alina Moldovan. “We will use the show to emphasise our approach to PDIR – Preventative, Daily, Interim and Restorative – cleaning systems for the hospitality industry, which is essential for maintaining optimum cleanliness in hotels and restaurants. By focusing on this system, hotels and restaurants will ensure that their guests have a positive experience while maintaining their own reputations for cleanliness and hygiene.”
Lining up alongside some of the industry’s biggest names will be its newest entrants. Start-up companies will get the chance to gain serious industry awareness and investment at the show’s collocated HITEC Dubai exhibition, which focuses on hospitality technology, connecting visitors with the freshest technology innovations, the latest security software, and the smartest of office solutions.
Organised in partnership with Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), the recognised voice for hospitality’s finance and technology segments, HITEC Dubai is the only regional trade show providing a platform for hospitality tech suppliers and buyers. HITEC Dubai’s conference will probe the latest innovations driving the industry through a speaker line-up of experts in robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence, while the HFTP Entrepreneur 20X (E20X) competition will incubate the start-ups looking to transform the sector.
Start-ups with an established hospitality technology solution will present their product or solution to a panel of industry experts and investors for a cash prize of US$2,400, as well as media and sector exposure. In a four-minute quick-fire round, the start-ups will present their elevator pitch before being quizzed by panellists.
Applications for start-ups to compete in the competition are accepted through April 28.
“Competitors are the people with the potential to transform the industry, and all will ultimately be winners because though there will be an overall prize-winner, , these start-up’s will come to the attention of investors keen to back the next big thing in the industry,” said Carson Booth, COO EMEA, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®).
Upwards of 13,000 industry-related professionals – from investors and owners, F&B specialists to procurement decision-makers, designers, and specifiers – are expected to attend The Hotel Show. Attendees will benefit from its co-location with The Leisure Show, the one-stop exhibition for the Middle East’s dynamic fitness, spa, and gym sectors, which brings owners and operators together with equipment distributors and suppliers. Also co-located alongside The Hotel Show Dubai and The Leisure Show will be Workspace – the premier event for workplace technologies – and the INDEX interior design and fit-out show.
