Dubai is a prime conference destination with several state-of-the-art venues appropriate for smaller meetings and mega-conventions alik.

With the impetus of the IMF/World Bank meeting in 2003, Dubai set out to justify its elevation to the world stage for international conventions.

Part of that process involved fine-tuning its capabilities to host large-scale meetings through the transformation of its World Trade Centre exhibition and conference halls into the renamed Dubai International Convention Centre.

With a central location on the Sheikh Zayed Road, between airport and beach, DICC boasts a flexible menu of space that can cater for events with up to 6,000 delegates in one hall.

The DICC's greatest asset is its Multipurpose Hall. The operable soundproof walls and flexible seating enables organisers to define a room style to suit their needs. Located in the heart of the facility, it is designed to offer maximum flexibility and an ideal environment that can accommodate a range of options, from sporting events to operas, and from theatrical productions to plenary sessions. Whatever the function, the Multipurpose Hall can be configured to create the perfect ambience to achieve the unique goals of planners.

The centre's Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Hall or Multipurpose Hall measuring 7,760 square metres can be divided by operable soundproof walls and has the capacity to comfortably accommodate 600 to 6,000 delegates. When set for the maximum capacity as an auditorium, it has 2,500 retractable seats in a tiered setting and an additional 2,000 seats on "the flat".

The Multipurpose Hall can be configured to include four large meeting rooms, also located at ground level – two rooms to accommodate up to 547 delegates and two for up to 767 delegates. The Multipurpose Hall is also linked to Hall 8 of the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, significantly expanding the centre’s capacity to provide ground floor meeting space totalling approximately 10,000 square metres, all on one level.

A total of 22 breakout rooms in a range of sizes complement the Multipurpose Hall. The four largest are located on the ground level, while eighteen smaller breakout rooms are on the first floor level of the convention centre, easily accessible by lifts and escalators. These rooms accommodate 50 to 220 delegates and are ideal for use as VIP hospitality suites, seminar rooms, speaker’s reception rooms or organiser's offices.

Another distinct asset is the DICC’s proximity to the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, a facility, which offers more than 35,000 square metres of prime, air-conditioned exhibition space in eight interconnected halls.

The two facilities are linked by a broad air-conditioned concourse that houses a range of shopping and restaurant outlets, providing a warm, inviting atmosphere to international delegates keen to network with colleagues and friends on-site. The extensive concourse has been designed to accommodate registration facilities and information desks.

AIRPORT EXPO

Airport Expo complements DWTC's role in promoting trade and commerce. The Expo is equipped to host exhibitions, conventions and conferences to international standards, and the state-of-the-art complex has been designed with flexibility in mind, making it adaptable to the requirements of many types of events.

The Expo is the venue for the biennial Dubai Airshow, which is to be held from November 20-24, 2005. With a total floor space of 23,308 square metres spread between two halls and a picturesque central plaza, it also plays host to GITEX Shopper, the region’s largest consumer fair for IT products. Mega entertainment events such as the Lux Bollywood Film Awards and live concerts have also been held there.

Just two minutes drive from the airport, less than 10 minutes from Dubai World Trade Centre and about 15 minutes from the heart of the city, Airport Expo Dubai is ideally located.

OTHER VENUES

Meanwhile, for the more normal medium-scale events, popular hotel options that have already won their spurs include the 1,800 capacity facility at the Al Bustan Rotana; JW Marriott’s two column-free ballrooms and 11 meeting rooms; the 4,340 square metres event and conference complex at the Grand Hyatt; a 1,500 capacity ballroom and 416-seat auditorium at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel; a 500-seat auditorium and 23 meeting rooms catering for up to 1,800 delegates at the Crowne Plaza, two grand ballrooms at Le Meridien Dubai, and a 33rd floor conference centre with auditorium and 18 meeting rooms at the Fairmont Dubai.

And for the completely unexpected, the Egypt-themed Wafi City has 15 themed restaurants, all of which can be transformed for corporate meetings or social events.

MADINAT JUMEIRAH

Adding a touch of glamour, Jumeirah is pulling in business to Madinat Jumeirah, redolent of an Arabian Disneyland but underpinned with typical efficiency in terms of addressing MICE requirements.

Two hotels and 29 'villas' offer nearly 900 rooms, the dedicated conference centre has capacity for 1,930 in a single sitting, while peripheral venues dotted around the complex include smaller ballrooms in the hotels, a 1,000-seat amphitheatre, 424-seat theatre, multi-purpose arena that can take up to 4,500 for events, plus an exclusive island site suitable for al fresco dining for up to 250.

With canals, windtowers, shopping and around 40 restaurants and cafes, it’s a one-stop shop for mega events, but event organisers need not stop their site inspections there, since, inevitably, there is a rich menu of alternatives suitable for all budgets and requirements.

As well as hotels, all of which offer some form of meeting facility, canny clients can combine some of the elements of the Dubai destination product in their choice of venue.

SPORTY SPOTS

Golf, a big attraction given the quality and growing number of courses here, is one option with small meeting capabilities at the revamped Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club as well as the famed Emirates Golf Club and Nad Al Sheba, the combined racetrack and golf course, home of the world’s richest horse race.

Team-building and stress-busting can be accommodated at the Jebel Ali Shooting Club, a dedicated academy with indoor and outdoor facilities for pistol, clay and laser shooting as well as terrace and restaurant space for spectator or meeting requirements.

Sporting fantasies can be played out at the Aviation Club, home of the Dubai ATP and WTA Tennis Championships. Here the impressive 7,500-seat stadium is one option, while smaller events for up to 100 can be hosted in the Majlis or Rainbow Rooms and there are a dozen different restaurant outlets in the adjacent Irish Village and Century Village complexes.

CRUISING VENUES

Another unique venue is the award-winning Dubai Cruise Terminal, shaped like a ship, located in the heart of the city at Port Rashid. With a training centre, boardroom and VIP facilities, it is also an unusual location for product launches and events.

The creek boasts a range of options including traditional dhows and the latest Bateaux Dubai, modelled on the famed Parisian cruisers. The glass-enclosed vessel allows an unobstructed 360-degree view of the sights of the renowned Dubai Creek.

Experience gourmet cuisine freshly prepared on board, accompanied by the finest wines and extensive selection of beverages, superb live entertainment, elegant décor and personalised service of the highest level.

The Prestige Lounge and the two-tiered outdoor deck, combined with the flexible seating, décor and theme arrangements, make Bateaux Dubai ideal for a variety of tailor-made private cruises and all kinds of corporate hospitality. Exclusive product launches, cocktail receptions, press conferences, seminars, lunch and breakfast cruises, fashion shows and more can be catered for.

Rikks Cruises provide one of Dubai's most unique and versatile conference and meeting venues with their 300-passenger capacity cruising vessel. Theatre style presentations can be conducted on the top deck and buffets can be organised for up to 220 people.

The 'MV Dolphin', a large traditional wooden dhow, designed to provide the finest in Arabian hospitality is also part of the fleet.

LOCAL FLAVOUR

For a flavour of Arabia, Al Boom Tourist Village on the creek has a marina with seven dhow cruise boats plus five traditional banquet halls, giving theatre-style capacity of up to 1,500 in each hall.

In the heart of the old Bastakiya area in Bur Dubai, the Majlis Gallery has a charming courtyard that is often used to good effect for evocative cocktail parties, while the Heritage and Diving Village at the head of the creek can accommodate small conferences of up to 50 delegates as well as receptions and cultural performances in a recreation of an Arabic village.

STAND ALONE

More seriously, stand-alone conference venues also abound in Dubai, with location determining the most apposite choice for organisers.

Downtown in Deira, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce has a 700-seat auditorium, banquet, conference and exhibition halls plus seven meeting rooms – and plans for more.

On the beach, the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management is a purpose built campus with 145-seat auditorium and additional classrooms, while further along the coast, Internet and Media Cities have outdoor venues capable of hosting up to 1,600 as well as smaller indoor boardrooms.

In addition, Knowledge Village has 10 meeting rooms, a small exhibition hall and 360-seat auditorium, and the nearby American University has an auditorium with 900-seat capacity plus five classrooms accommodating up to 72 people in each.

GROWING SPACE

In total, Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing estimate there is already some 160,000 square metres of flexible meeting and exhibition space in the emirate, a figure that will be substantially augmented in the coming years.

This being Dubai, DICC is only the tip of the iceberg and a swathe of alternative venues are being buffed up, constructed, planned and dreamed of, conjuring up a future of city-wide meeting spaces that offer something for every organiser.

According to Dubai Convention Bureau director, Awadh Seghayer Alketbi, key to this expansion will be the spread of facilities throughout Dubai.

"We expect by 2010 to have extensive new meeting and exhibition capacity at the revamped Airport Expo, near the new Jebel Ali airport site, on the area around the Aviation Club in Deira, in the Dubai Chamber of Commerce new project as well as in the new Festival City on the creek, at the Pearl Movenpick complex by The Palm Jumeirah and in the Atlantis Dubai resort," he said.

"While mega events such as the IMF/World Bank conference are exceptional, we will be able to cater to the largest meetings, such as the FDI dental conference in 2007 which will bring up to 25,000 delegates and partners to Dubai."

Dedicated conference centres on the drawing board include a major facility at Festival City – operated by InterContinental which will also operate Crowne Plaza, InterCon and Express by Holiday Inn hotels there – as well as a full conference complex at the Move pick Pearl complex and another on The Palm Jumeirah.

The latter will include a two-storey conference centre of 10,000 square metres of space, and house the largest single room space in Dubai, outside of the principal DICC hall.