Right from the moment of its creation in 1979, the Dubai World Trade Centre has played a key role in Dubai’s affirmation as a player on the world financial and business scene, and as uncontested economic capital of the Middle East.
In the beginning, the offices of the DWTC were located in the well known office tower on the Sheikh Zayed Road, but over time other impressive buildings have been added, such as the prestigious Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Convention Tower, centres of representation in hotels belonging to the Novotel group and Ibis Hotels, as well as at the Dubai International Hotel Apartments. Furthermore, the DWTC also manages the Dubai Airport Expo Centre, another space having considerable capacity, where numerous exhibitions and important meetings of international interest take place.
The now evident objective is to transform Dubai into the most important destination in the sphere of business tourism, real estate and events at world level. In order to reach this unprecedented goal, the metropolis has equipped itself with a near infinite multitude of infrastructures and services, which range from advertising to technology, from the organisation of weddings to security services, not forgetting the place of honour which goes to hospitality in general.
Among the elements which are indispensable to the realisation of this objective, Dubai relies on an offer contained in a calendar of events of great promise, equally distributed over the course of the year and capable of acting as a pole of attraction for all spheres of modern life: from scientific research to industry, from tourism to sport, from technology to the arts. Flanking this host of events, naturally, there are structures and equipment of the most advanced kind and specific services managed with a high degree of competence.
A list of service facilities that ranges from meetings to conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions to the property sector, from musical, theatrical and cinematographic shows to conferences, from scientific seminars to advertising, from mass media to the always excellent hospitality which is as much business as it is leisure.
The real estate sector, which is particularly dynamic here, is enjoying a decided and surprising rate of growth, thanks also to the farsightedness of both the legislator and the managing class, who, with a remarkable sense of timing, have understood the primary importance of environmental sustainability, including it among their indispensable priorities. The city of Masdar, which is under construction 40 kms from Abu Dhabi, will be without carbon emissions. Refuse will be completely recycled and the water used will be from the sea (desalinised) and recycled. There will be no cars and it will be supplied by solar energy as well as an infinite number of other successful solutions in respect of the environment. It is already an icon of the environmental policy of the United Arab Emirates, which have made a leap (unexpected?) ahead in these terms, placing themselves in a position of strong advantage compared to many western countries (among which Italy), where for many years ecology and environmental conscience have been talked of but little has been done in terms of action, either from the legislative or the executive points of view.
The added value of the Dubai World Trade Centre? The uniting of the role and the commitment – typical, on the other hand, of UAE culture – which produces levels of customer service, and consequently, customer satisfaction, as in few other areas of the world, and it confirms its capability of generating an inexhaustible virtuous circle around Dubai and the other six Emirates.