Thinking about Dubai?

Last year, Dubai and Abu Dhabi held at least 150 exhibitions in technology, medical care, aviation, manufacturing and even niche sectors such as videogames and tea and coffee.
The trade shows at Dubai World Trade Centre on health care, food, tourism, security, logistics and education attracted 1.6 million visitors and 35,000 businesses last year.

It is still a boom marketing area and many UK businesses could do very well out there. But you do need  know-how so talk to someone with experience of exhibiting in the area.

To stand out in the crowd, exhibitors need strategic planning: demonstration of new products; following up with customers; and possibly big advertising campaigns before a show to attract potential customers.

"The opportunity to do business for the exhibitors is very big," says Simon Mellor, the senior vice president for DMG Events, which organises the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference. At that conference, he says, "the business deals signed and discussed run into multibillion-dollars".

Symantec, with more than 1,000 distributors in the region, was one of the 3,500 businesses that showcased their products at Gitex last year. This time, it will have a two-storey booth covering 120 square metres when the five-day fair kicks off on October 14.

But Gitex is not the only trade show in town and, for exhibitors at the country's many niche shows, it is no less important to connect with customers ahead of time. La Marquise International, which is owned by Buhaleeba Group based in Dubai and distributes coffee machines among other items, has a client base of about 4,000 in hotels, restaurants and the cafe sector and it sends out invites to all of them ahead of the International Tea and Coffee Festival. Last year, more than 4,600 visitors, including traders, roasters, hoteliers, importers and exporters attended the festival, which featured 47 cafes and brands.
Since the objective for most of the exhibitors, such as the local pharmaceuticals company Gulf Drug, is to seal contracts, tending to customers is crucial.
Connecting with customers after the show is equally important. Thank you emails, information on particular products clients and visitors have shown interest in and swift follow-up are all vital. And when the final piece of business is brought in, the last step is to calculate the return on investment.

And then begin preparation for the next show!