Under Dickinson, DMG Events has become one of the top 20 international exhibition and conference organisers (photo: DMG events)
Recognising Dubai and Abu Dhabi as top world leading event destinations, UFI, the global events industry association, elected Geoff Dickinson, CEO of DMG Events, as its president for 2024, which is a first for UAE and Dubai.
Dickinson had worked for a variety of events businesses holding numerous senior roles, including being the Global Managing Director of IIR Exhibitions in the mid 1990s. He then spent over a decade as an entrepreneur in Dubai launching two successful exhibitions businesses. He sold his first business to Messe Frankfurt and the second to Clarion before joining Dubai-headquartered DMG Events as the global CEO.
Under Dickinson, DMG Events has become one of the top 20 international exhibition and conference organisers with 10 offices around the world and nearly 100 events organised annually.
“I am truly honoured to serve an industry that I am so passionate about. This is the first time any event professional from the UAE has been appointed to this prestigious role and I am sure that the UAE’s status as a leading international events hub, especially having hosted the ‘world’s greatest show’ Expo 2020, was at the very least, a contributing factor,” says Dickinson.
UFI is the global association of the world’s leading tradeshow organisers which represents around 50,000 exhibition industry professionals globally, and also works closely with its 63 national and regional association members and includes 795 member organisations in 83 countries and regions around the world.
The UFI president is elected through its board of directors for a one-year mandate, becoming its legal and official representative, chairing the executive committee, the board of directors and the general assemblies.
“I will always champion the events industry, focusing on diversity, innovation, technology and sustainability,” adds Dickinson.
The events industry has always been an important factor to the UAE economy. According to an impact report released by the Dubai World Trade Centre, business tourism generated USD 3.5 billion in 2018, the equivalent of 3.3 pc of Dubai’s gross domestic product (GDP), and in 2019, over 50 pc of the 16.7 million international overnight visitors who stayed in Dubai, were business travellers attending events. In 2019 the event industry contributed almost USD 200 billion to the global economy, supporting 1.3 million jobs.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, the UAE was praised internationally for implementing one of the most effective responses globally, that resulted in one of the lowest mortality and infection rates globally.
“This approach laid the foundations for the UAE economy to rebound safely and quickly. Large-scale events were up and running again at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), before the end of 2020,” commented Dickinson.
In 2021, Dickinson was appointed to the Advisory Board of Dubai International Chamber, by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He was also handed a golden visa in 2021.
