Meetings and events not yet ready to slow down in the summer?
Summer season in the MICE segment is expected to be slow in the UAE in a normal year, but since the pandemic, trends have changed, and many organizations are excited about meeting colleagues or customers in person and move away from online collaboration platforms.
Dubai Market
In Dubai meetings and events, bookings increased by 36% in the month of June compared to May. July will see a significant drop in activities in the market, but it will be interesting to compare it with 2019 figures.
The average number of attendees in June were 35 people, while the average square footage used was 404 per event, and square feet used per person was 12.
The corporate market segment represented 72.4% of overall business in June. Training and Education made it into the top five segment closely followed by Travel, Technology, Pharmaceutical and Consulting.
Abu Dhabi Market
In Abu Dhabi meetings and events, bookings increased by 45% in the month of June compared to May. The average number of attendees in June were 60 delegates, while the average square footage used was 979 per event and square feet used per guest was 16.
The corporate market segment represented 57.9% of overall business in June. International Government made it into the top five segment, followed by Travel, National Associations, Financial / Banking and Federal Government. If we only look at the Corporate Segment, the top industries would have also included Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical, Technology and Consumer Goods.
Industries to watch! Across both markets there are a few industries hotel sales teams shall look closer into, as their capture rate YTD is way ahead of 2019 volume, such as Manufacturing, Marketing & Advertising, Fashion, Transportation, Healthcare and Food & Beverage.
Remember to check back at our news feed on ExploreTECH in the middle of August for our July UAE analysis!
Knowland tracks event activity across 120+ markets across the world.