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25th anniversary special issue: celebrating 25 years of the best in facilities management
Introduction
The exhibition industry is characterized by different types of products delivered on a similar platform, i.e. an exhibition can be held showcasing products from the computer, aerospace, defense, publishing, health, household goods, medical, education and car industries but similar activities are performed to deliver the overall product to the visiting public. Every exhibition requires a venue. Every exhibition requires organization of the exhibitors. Every exhibition requires marketing.
Trade exhibitions are obviously regarded as an important tool of marketing communications. Table I [Figure omitted. See Article Image.] shows that there are several countries that have shown a growth greater than 50 per cent in the last ten years since 1993. Table II [Figure omitted. See Article Image.] shows the top ten international meeting cities in 2004.
The costs of exhibiting at international shows are high. They are also associated with costs such as insurance premiums and exhibitors' costs for travel, accommodation and subsistence.
Dubai has been boosting the tourism sector for more than a decade, the restaurants and hotels sector, as a part of the whole tourism sector, contributed only 4.5 percent to Dubai GDP in 2003. In fact, in investigating an economic assessment of a tourism activity, one should notice that parts of transport services and retail trading in the domestic economy, such as domestic airlines, rental cars, local taxis, souvenir shops, are used by visitors and contribute to an increase in domestic income.
The objectives of the study were:
- to identify satisfaction levels of exhibitors and visitors with exhibition organization in Dubai;
- to identify satisfaction levels of exhibitors and visitors with Dubai as an exhibition destination;
- to identify major obstacles to exhibition organization in Dubai;
- to identify the profiles of exhibitors and visitors to exhibitions in Dubai;
- to benchmark Dubai exhibition facilities against international competition;
- to identify activities in the exhibition value chain providing value to exhibitors and visitors in Dubai; and
- to identify which activities in the Dubai exhibition value chain need to be raised to market leaders' standards.
Industry review
The exhibition industry is a global industry with exhibitions being held in countries all around the world under different political, economic,...