There was something of a Chinese takeover at the DEAL trade show as it opened in Dubai yesterday.
The Chinese contingent, at 52 companies last year, comprised around a quarter of the exhibitors in 2017, 65 in all.
The exhibition, which continues through tomorrow, Wednesday, is now recognised as the principal event in the industry calendar for the Middle East, majoring on equipment for theme parks and FECs. The latter has always held sway in terms of influence, but with three major theme parks opening in Dubai late last year, the balance is tipping.
A conference programme running alongside the show and organised by the new Middle East trade association, MENALAC, tended to differ in its assessment of the trends. A panel at the end of the second and final day of the conference concluded firmly that the theme parks were essentially a Dubai phenomenon and generally the pattern would not be repeated across the region. And the majority of visitors would be international tourists, while the FECs in the big shopping malls would continue to cater for the locals, plus shopping tourists.
The exhibition next year has been set rather later, running from Sunday through Tuesday, April 8-10.
The picture shows Eugene Jarvis, president of Raw Thrills, making his first visit to the DEAL show. “I should have been here years ago,” he commented. He was accompanied by colleague Mark Struhs.
