Eastern promise
The Dubai chamber of commerce has issued a press release announcing its visit to the CES 2011 show in Vegas. Among the background noise of self-promotion - how much the chamber is doing to promote business in Dubai - almost as an afterthought, the release mentioned the Emirate has aspirations to host the event.
"The Director General of Dubai Chamber praised the strong ties between Dubai Chamber and the Consumer Electronics Association, adding that Dubai is looking forward to host the CES in Dubai soon," said the release.
There's also a quote attributable to Hamad Buamim, the chamber's director general: "Dubai is well positioned to host CES as it is a leading global consumer electronics market," he said.
That's about it really. Dubai is already a major commercial centre, and the chamber sees the hosting of trade shows as not only a way of generating revenue and increasing the emirate's international profile, but also a great way of facilitating business ties with the companies that exhibit. While he hope is for this to happen soon, things seem to be at a very early stage.
The desert climate of Dubai is, of course, no issue for people used to travelling to Nevada for their New Year tech fix, and there is probably already the hotel and conferencing space available to host the largest of shows. Whether people used to the ancillary pleasures of Sin City will find their appetites equally met by Dubai, however, remains to be seen.
