Dubai Kicks Off 2020 with Third Edition of Global Wedding Excellence Retreat

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Business Events | January 27, 2020 | Press Release

Dubai Business Events Global Wedding Excellence Retreat of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing The Ritz-Carlton Dubai Sofitel Dubai The Palm

Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau and a division of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, hosted the third edition of Dubai Global Wedding Excellence Retreat earlier this month. The retreat was held as part of the city’s wider efforts to attract destination weddings and further diversity Dubai’s visitor base.

Over the course of four days, the retreat welcomed over 75 destination wedding planners, industry experts and influencers from around the globe with participants coming from India, Turkey, Lebanon, Nigeria, UK, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, US, China, Australia, and GCC. The itinerary consisted of inspection visits and events at key hotels, venues, and attractions around the city in partnership with stakeholders in the hospitality, events and entertainment sectors. Highlights of the retreat included: an opening party at The Ritz-Carlton Dubai; a themed lunch at Kinara by Vikas Khanna at the new JA Lake View Hotel; a gala dinner at Sofitel Dubai The Palm; and a closing party at Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Dubai. In addition, the retreat included a Leadership Forum at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai, with experts discussing current trends and challenges in the destination wedding sector as well as a workshop of business meetings between the participants and Dubai based wedding industry suppliers.  

The hosting of the third Global Wedding Excellence Retreat was held from January 9^th - 12^th 2020, further emphasized the strong commitment to growing this important segment. In 2019, in addition to a retreat, Dubai also hosted the Destination Wedding Planners Congress at Atlantis The Palm, which brought together 500 attendees from over 70 countries, and on March 2^nd the city will host Engage!20 at Armani Hotel Dubai, a summit is expected to bring 400 key influencers, thought leaders and wedding planners from around the globe.

Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “The successful hosting of the third edition of the Dubai Global Wedding Excellence Retreat has once again enabled us to showcase to an influential audience the strong potential Dubai holds for weddings as they look to create memorable events for their clients. During their stay, the wedding planners were able to see and experience the city’s diverse offerings and services available to them, and all of this was made possible by the strong support we saw from stakeholders across Dubai, in addition to broadening the overall tourism horizon. As we continue to leverage opportunities to further expand Dubai ‘s visitor base, destination weddings hold strong potential, with the city’s combination of world-class and unique venues, hotels and dining scene being complemented by expertise in planning and execution to ensure memorable special days for couples from around the world. We look forward to continuing to identify opportunities to reach out to more destination wedding and event planners to further develop this segment.’’

As part of DBE’s efforts in positioning the city as a knowledge hub and a leading business events destination, the convention bureau works closely with stakeholders to showcase the city’s world-class hotels, ease of connectivity, state-of-the-art venues and excellent infrastructure. Over the coming months, it will host study missions with planners and buyers from Western Europe, Russia & CIS and India, as well as engaging with business events professionals in their own markets through a series of roadshows and participation in major trade shows.

Ademurewa Salako, Director, 2706 Events, Lagos, Nigeria said, “Thank you to Visit Dubai for a wonderful experience. It was great to meet industry colleagues, share ideas and experiences and discuss possibilities. Discovering new places in Dubai that would make the perfect destination wedding location and the amazing food they offer were the major highlights of the trip. This is an initiative that must be carried on and should involve more vendors in the wedding industry. It was a great experience and I hope there are plans to have another edition. Thank you for having us, it was truly an honor.”

Hosanna Ching, Managing Director, Le Rêve Events International, Shanghai, China said, “It was a great pleasure to be invited and be a part of #DubaiGWE 2020. What an inspiring and wonderful time to be among leading destination wedding planners from parts of the world to experience what Dubai has to offer! There was not a minute to lose in all 4 days visiting properties and engaging with one another. Thank you, Dubai Tourism, for providing this opportunity and I would love to visit this amazing city again!”

Speaking about the experience, Elie Azar, Owner, ParAzar Productions, Beirut, Lebanon said, “This exclusive and upscale event reflects the soul of Dubai as the destination for dedication, collaboration, and excellence. Meeting wonderful professionals from all over the world in such magnificent settings and in an extremely well-planned event can only push us forward as an industry and incite us to surpass ourselves. Much appreciation for all the team behind the event and to Dubai Tourism for making all this possible and warm salutations to all from Lebanon. Having attended more than one edition, I could see clearly the efforts made in diversifying the attendees and I encourage you to continue doing so. The exchange with various professionals from different countries can only enrich the experience more.”

Robert Koene, Director, Floral Art & Event Design, Athens, Greece said, “We would like to express our gratitude to the whole team of the #DubaiGWE and members involved in the execution and creation of this wonderful event also a sincere appreciation for Dubai Government and Dubai Tourism for the support that allowed professionals like us to explore a new facet of the region while networking, coming to Dubai is always an enriching experience and the Dubai Global Wedding Excellence Retreat 2020 only added to that. The exchange of knowledge received on such diversity scenarios with people of all kinds of backgrounds is a gift to the wedding industry in the pursue of excellency. Dubai once again sets the example to the world and inspires us in showing that nothing is left to coincidence in reaching for excellence in everything we do. We valued meeting amazing people from the industry but more so in seeing Dubai blooming in the arena as one of the best countries for Destinations Weddings. We would love to be invited again and perhaps inspire and share our Floral Expertise!”

Mahendra G., Managing Director, Neferrtiti Weddings, Bangalore, India said, “Dubai is such a vibrant destination and I enjoyed the beautiful vibe that exists. I was delighted to witness Dubai Global Wedding Excellence Retreat 2020. All the hotels we visited were fabulous, spacious and had comfortable rooms with friendly and attentive staff, superb facilities and great locations on the beach. The treatment was so royal and made me feel like I'm in my own country. I experienced delicious food with great quality, everything had a unique taste and nice arrangements. I feel privileged to be a part of this great event called #DubaiGWE and the sense of hospitality was remarkable! I cannot wait to experience many more events like these in the upcoming years.”

Luv Isrrani, Director, Isrrani Photography, Mumbai, India said, “Globalization as a term has been doing the rounds for quite some time now, but DTCM is facilitating it in the most result-orientated manner. Dubai has always been my favorite city and this time I saw it from another perspective and I must say it was pretty insightful. We're definitely looking at Dubai as a huge and more convenient option for us to grow our business. What a beautiful experience it was to be a part of #DubaiGWE, and knowing all the wonderful people who took part in it.  This entire trip has given so much, exploration, education and lots of fun with a lot of network and plans to bring more business here.”