DUBAI has been voted the host city for the World Expo in 2020, making it the first Middle Eastern city to host the mega event.
The voting rounds were held during the 154th Bureau International des Exhibitions General Assembly in Paris on Wednesday. Dubai received 116 out of 165 votes, beating the final contenders – Brazil’s Sao Paulo, Russia’ Yekaterinburg and Turkey’s Izmir – with its bid themed ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
Winning the right to host the Expo will have a significant impact on the tourism industry of Dubai and the UAE, according to Helal Saeed Almarri, director general, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre. He said: “Hosting Expo 2020 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one that will be maximised to accelerate the growth of the tourism industry in Dubai, the UAE and the wider GCC region.
“A wide range of sectors will benefit, including construction, engineering and transportation, and of course the hospitality, retail and aviation sectors will experience a significant positive impact, further strengthening their already robust positions…There are currently 82,000 hotel and hotel apartment rooms in Dubai and this figure is expected to double by 2020 to ensure the demands of the Expo visitors are met.
“DTCM will work with our partners in both government and the private sector to put in place the infrastructure and processes needed to meet the (huge) demand,” he added.
Between October 2020 and April 2021, more than 25 million visitors are expected to attend the World Expo 2020, 70 per cent of which will be from outside the UAE – the largest number of international visitors in the Expo history.
