DUBAI, 4 February 2008 — Gulf countries have recorded shining notes in different sectors like aviation traffic, facilities management industry, exhibitions and retail industry.
Aviation traffic in the Arab region recorded the highest growth in the world in 2006 at 12.2 percent, three times higher than the average global figure.
According to the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) — which with Terrapinn are organizing the first Middle East Aviation Outlook Summit in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 27 and 28, the region once again eclipsed global capacity growth which rose to a record of 3.4 percent.
“The Arab region foresees a rapid growth in the world for international traffic between 2006-2010,” says CAPA cxecutive chairman, Peter Harbison.
CAPA’s views on the region are borne out by IATA, which forecasts that the annual average growth of passenger traffic in the Middle East is predicted to remain strong at 6.9 per cent in comparison to the global average of 4.8 percent.
According to the CAPA’s report, the Middle East was again the fastest growing region for passengers (RPKs) and cargo (FTKs) in 2006, recording full-year growth of 15.4 percent and 16.1 percent respectively, as per IATA’s figures.
“Ten million passengers are handled by five major airports and Dubai being the pre-eminent hub holds alone one quarter, or 22 percent of the total 128 million passengers,” says Harbison.
According to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) Dubai’s tourist arrivals grew to 5.1 million in the first nine months of 2007, almost five times the size of Dubai’s population.
Airport and aviation expansion is expected to boost and maintain the current healthy levels of growth. The report states that “by 2012, ten leading Middle East airports will invest $36.8 billion in new airport capacity that will provide for an additional 318 million passengers per annum.”
The UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Qatar are the region’s leaders; they have implemented “open skies” policies that played a major role in the development of their tourism industries as well as their success to access numerous international markets.
Facilities Management
Meanwhile, Research indicates that the facilities management (FM) market in the Arabian Gulf will be worth an estimated $892 billion over the next 25 years.
The figures released by Middle East Strategy Advisors (MESA) show that the FM industry in the UAE alone is potentially worth $704 billion, with the markets in Saudi Arabia and Qatar worth $96 billion and $92 billion respectively.
The region’s only exhibition dedicated to facilities management, FM EXPO, has almost doubled in size with a 70 percent increase from last year, reflecting the rapidly growing importance of the market. Organized by Streamline Marketing Group and dmg world media, this year’s FM EXPO will also have a large international presence with exhibitors from Germany and Australia, as well as a UK pavilion.
Retail Industry
Retail industry experts say that the Middle East retail sector estimated to be worth in excess of $100 billion annually, second only to residential property in the non-oil economy, the issue is of critical importance, but one which the GCC economies can cope with,” said Naomi Koningen, project manager of Retail City 2008, organized by IIR Middle East.
Exhibitions
Dubai is the foremost exhibition destination in the Middle East and Africa, spearheading a regional sector with annual revenues of AED12 billion, according to data gathered from the CEOs of some of the world’s biggest event management companies. CEO’s assembled at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre for the inaugural Middle East edition of the International CEO Forum (ICF).
Research presented at the ICF suggests that enlightened leadership, an enabling business environment and ongoing investment in support infrastructure are three of the major factors that have helped to position Dubai at the forefront of the global events and exhibitions industry.
