Paris, considered by many the most romantic city in the world with 35.4 million tourist arrivals recorded in 2019 alone. Paris’ romantic atmosphere is synonymous with the Eiffel tower and its universal beauty.

Now imagine the Eiffel tower was never built. Would Paris still be considered the most romantic city in the world? Would they still be able to have the same amount of tourist flow? 

You might be wondering, “What does the Eiffel tower have to do with Expo2020?”

Well, the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, and was a tower built to be the main attraction for the Paris World Expo or ‘Exposition Universelle’. The Expo was brought to Paris to drive an economic force to pull Paris out of a recession, which it not only did, but also turned Paris into one of the most visited cities in the world.

Some other noteworthy and, what some might consider revolutionary innovations launched at Expo, are:

• The Telephone (Philadelphia, 1876)

• The Ferris Wheel (Chicago, 1893)

• The Ice Cream cone (St Louis, 1904)

• Touchscreens (Knoxville, 1982)

• The Humanoid Robot (Aichi, 2005)

So what exactly is The Expo?

Simply put, The Expo is an international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of participating nations. These exhibitions are held in different parts of the world and takes place every 5 years and lasts between 3-6 months.

Each expo has a theme and participating nations showcase their latest achievements and innovations relating to that theme.

The current Expo is being held in our beautiful city, Dubai.

With its official name Expo 2020, Dubai is hosting it from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2022, with a theme of ‘Connecting Minds and Creating the Future’.

Expo 2020 is hosting 191 country pavilions which are distributed into 3 districts: Sustainability, Mobility, and Opportunity.

The Sustainability district focus around the theme of living in balance with the world around us, showing us how we can enjoy the nature around us alongside a high-tech future.

The Mobility districts showcases pavilions on the ideologies of better connections and the possibilities it brings with the smarter movement of knowledge, ideas, and goods.

The Opportunity district showcases educational pavilions for learning and inspiration on how people are currently creating different opportunities for a better and brighter future.

What is the Impact of The Expo?

Ever since its announcement back in 2013, Dubai has seen not only an increase in its ever-growing skyline and infrastructure, but has also seen a boost in activity with trade, logistics, tourism, construction, finance, retail, and real estate.

To put that into context, Dubai usually sees an average of 16 million visitors within a year (pre-COVID obviously) so just imagine what 25 million looks like in half the time.

But will we actually reach this target?

Well, in the first 18 days of The Expo opening its gates, it has welcomed over 771,000 guests, averaging around 50,000 visitors per day. These figures only count ticket holders and exclude representatives, delegations, guests of international participants, partners, and other stakeholders.  

Expo 2020 is said to contribute USD 33.3 Billion to UAE’s economy by 2031, making it an ideal time to start or grow a business and capitalize on the huge expected economic boom.

The hospitality sector is also expected to have a huge boost as well.

It is estimated that hotel occupancy is set to increase by 77% YoY and RevPar to increase by 86%, and even an increase in the rooms supply by 3.6%, according to the data forecasted and created by STR.

The increase in occupancy and room rates is already taking place (anyone else notice a spike in traffic?) with the ease of COVID restrictions for international visitors flying into Dubai, as well as for local residents with huge vaccination campaigns that have been taking place for the past few months.

Capitalizing on this opportunity, the hospitality sector is set out for sustainable economic growth, making Dubai and UAE the place to be in the world right now.

So, what does this all mean for us in the hospitality world?

It means, strap yourselves in for one crazy, fun and exciting ride!

 

Sources:

1. https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en

2. https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2021/09/01/how-expo-2020-has-boosted-the-uaes-hospitality-sector/

3. https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/expo-2020-dubai-on-track-for-nine-million-visitors/

4. https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/news/history-and-culture/15-essential-things-know-about-eiffel-tower

5. https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/the-10-most-romantic-cities-in-the-world/

6. https://www.statista.com/statistics/468164/number-tourist-arrivals-hotels-paris/

7. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/supplements/expect-phenomenal-growth

8. https://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/dubai-tourism-statistics/

 

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About the Author

Just a typical introverted millennial and aspiring restaurateur, looking at the world from the outside. You can find Akash at the local burger joint or tucked away in my room playing video games with friends.