Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) was named the ‘Leading Conference Centre’ at this year’s Middle East World Travel Awards, held recently in Dubai.

The award was presented to DWTC in recognition of its significant contribution to driving business tourism in the UAE, and brings the pioneering establishment a step closer to achieving its goal of positioning Dubai as the world’s leading destination for events and conferences.

The World Travel Awards is recognised as the authoritative award for the world travel industry with the participation of decision makers and senior executives from major travel companies, operators and destinations.

The awards were designed to recognise organisations that have promoted and furthered excellence in the industry. Votes were cast by over 167,000 travel professionals from over 160 countries across the globe and DWTC was adjudged the best from a list that included all the prominent competitors in the region.

With over 96,000 sq m of event space across its two venues of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and Dubai Airport Expo Centre, that attracted over 1.2 million business visitors last year, DWTC is the operator of the largest venue in the region and also organises and hosts most of the region’s high-profile shows such as Gulfood, Arabian Travel Market, Cityscape, Gitex, and  the recently concluded Big 5, DWTC’s largest exhibition since it opened its doors in 1979.

Dubai is currently the Middle East leader in a MICE sector worth Dh12 billion ($3.37 billion) a year according to UFI (the global association of the exhibitions industry).

“DWTC will be strategically focused on increasing the long-term economic impact of this sector on the UAE economy with initiatives that are currently being undertaken to enhance the company’s positive contribution to Dubai’s GDP,” stated Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centre.-TradeArabia News Service