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 a number of world-renowned producers including office furniture manufacturers Sotubo, Famo, Iduna and Julcar. Also returning this year are familiar names such as Sedus Stoll (Germany), AllSteel (US), ERSA (Turkey) and Tonon & Co. (Italy), plus the region’s well-known distributors – Bafco, Juma Al Majid, H20 Concepts and Marlin Furniture, to name but a few. These companies represent the world’s most prominent brands such as Herman Miller (US), Boss Design (UK), Knoll (US), Miller Office Systems (US), AIS (US), Socoa (France), Battochio (Italy), and Haworth (US).
Office 2005 will also be host to a programme of daily seminars, organised by independent interior design consultancy Cityscape. The firm has been established in the Middle East for 12 years and has been closely involved with the rapidly-changing skyline of Dubai. The seminars are themed around workplace freedom and will detail the latest industry trends and ideas, giving regional companies an insight into the innovative office solutions that are being utilised elsewhere in the world.
In keeping with the rapid industry demand, both the exhibitions will be housed in bigger, state-of-the-art premises at the Dubai World Trade Centre this year.
“The overwhelming international demand for floor space means that we have had to move the event to a larger venue – Dubai’s state-of-the-art international exhibition centre,” says Walsh. “The DIEC is the premier exhibition venue in the region, as the shows get bigger it is only fitting that they should be at that venue,” says Walsh.
It is no coincidence that the two shows run side by side, says Walsh – it’s by design. “A significant proportion of professionals cover both sectors, providing supplies for offices and hotels, so it’s a natural marriage. Visitors get two for the price of one. A fabric retailer, for example, benefits from the shows being teamed together.”
The Hotel Show, too, will host international exhibitors from as far afield as Italy, Australia, the Far East, Russia, South Africa, the US and for the first time, Greece, besides the major regional players.
Ten national pavilions will be at the event: China, France, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Malta, Mexico, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Returning to the show are Scandinavian interior designers with their clean lines, unparalleled quality and simplistic beauty that keeps functionality and usability at its heart. Firms to look out for are Ege Taepper and Cane-line.
Last year’s Hotel Show saw 5,640 professional visitors, an increase of 14 per cent compared to 2003, while the Office Exhibition 2004, too, recorded an increase of 13 per cent in trade visitors.
“Our task is to deliver key buyers from the Gulf and our track record has shown we do that effectively – with some even coming from further afield such as India and Lebanon,” says Walsh.
“At the end of the day, trade shows are a very economic way of doing business. Besides, shaking hands and looking your business partner in the eye can never be overtaken by technology.”
(The Hotel Show occupies halls 5, 6 and 7 of the DIEC, while the Office Exhibition is spread over halls 3 and 4 and are open daily to trade visitors from 11 am to 7 pm).