Behind the scenes look at Dh10bn Dubai Exhibition Centre construction

Skeletal steel structures are rapidly taking shape at the home of the Dubai Exhibition Centre, a venue that will soon be the region’s largest for hosting exhibitions and events.

The National was given exclusive access to record the scale of construction at the Dh10 billion project in the Dubai South neighbourhood, which will be the venue for large events such as Gulf Food and Arab Health next year. Senior officials at Dubai World Trade Centre outlined how the space was linked to the emirate’s overall masterplan. The vast exhibition space will have a daily visitor capacity of more than 65,000 people by 2031 and will be the gateway to Expo City, the UAE’s planned first 15-minute pedestrian-friendly city.

Construction is on track for 140,000 square metres to be completed in the first phase of next year. This will allow big exhibitions that have expanded beyond the capacity of the Dubai World Trade Centre to be hosted across both venues, easing the pressure of Downtown traffic. The blueprint includes building residential units, a hotel, business parks and retail space.

New Dubai Exhibition Centre ready in January 2026

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Diego Cortese, vice president of venue commercial at Dubai World Trade Centre, said three mega exhibitions - Arab Health, Gulf Food and Gitex - had maxed out the space at DWTC and would be organised at the new DEC next year. "The location is the future of Dubai," he told The National. “We're not just building the largest exhibition centre in the region just to have the region’s largest exhibition centre, but really because this fits into the overall economic agenda of the city of Dubai."

At the site on Monday, about 1,000 workers were busy as steel frames and trusses were erected to set up the north and south halls. Workers in protective gear also prepared a service tunnel being built that will feed water and electricity into the building.

New Dubai Exhibition Centre ready in January 2026

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Sense of festivity

This is part of the overall road map announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, for the emirate to grow into a powerhouse in the exhibition sector.

“Over the next few years, the intention is to become a top international tourism and business destination in the world,” Mr Cortese said. “So, it's not just about having more events coming to Dubai, it's also about making sure we can offer the infrastructure for those which are taking place here to grow. Having both the World Trade Centre and DEC will help us reposition and increase space to attract international associations and congresses, which currently we struggle with finding the space to host.”

Events will span the city, lifting the congestion around the World Trade Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road. “For us the future of events is going to be activating both sides of the city at the same time,” Mr Cortese said. “We are very excited, we are in the middle of building the first phase of DEC that will be delivered in January 2026 when we will see the existing building more than double in size.

"The first event moving in will be Gulf Food in January 2026, that will run across both our venues. It will be shortly followed by Arab Health, rebranded as WHX, the World Health Expo, that will run simultaneously at DEC and the WHX lab will run in parallel at the World Trade Centre during the same week. The whole objective in those mega shows is to activate a sense of festivity. These events in 2026 will be followed by Gitex, that is also moving here to DEC.”

During Gitex, the plan is to use locations across Expo City Dubai for outdoor events, dinners and live shows.

Main gateway

Officials are planning spaces to serve the people who will live and work in the area. The community is already well connected, with a Metro station working since Expo 2020 located near Jebel Ali port, close to Al Maktoum International Airport and linked to the road network.

“The Dubai Exhibition Centre is considered one of the main gateways to Expo City,” said Amer Alfarsi, vice president of real estate development at Dubai World Trade Centre. “We have implemented a solid expansion plan. Our aim is to host more international events and to continue with the legacy from hosting Expo 2020 and Cop28. We would like to position Dubai as the global hub for exhibitions and international events.”

More than 2,200 residential units are ready at the Expo Village, a mall has been built, and there are plans to construct a hotel. “Surrounding the development we have different land banks and those are dedicated to mixed-use development,” Mr Alfarsi said. “We are considering building a hotel to service customers who visit the development.”

Unique space

The centre will provide a 1.2km stretch from north to south that can be used for a single event without any columns. It can also be split up into 26 halls with dedicated entrances to host simultaneous events. The plan is divided into three phases with 160,000 square metres to be delivered by 2028 and 180,000 square metres of exhibition spaces completed in the final phase.

“The Dubai Exhibition Centre, by 2031, will be the largest venue of its kind in the Mena region,” Mr Alfarsi said. “We will welcome more than 65,000 visitors on a single level supported with high-level amenities. We are expanding and doubling our events from 300 to 600. It is all due to creativity and innovative design that we can host one mega-event or more than 20 different events.”