Dubai's international meetings sector to reopen in October

Dubai Business Events, the city's convention bureau, has launched guidelines for the restart of its business events scene, with local meetings slated to resume from 15 September and international meetings set to return from 1 October, 2020.

New health and safety guidelines for events include mandatory thermal scanners or contactless temperature checks, face masks, gloves for staff in direct contact with delegates, two-metre physical distancing, and thorough sterilisation of venues before, during and after events.

Additional measures include the need for delegates to pre-register online, floor markings for physical distancing, and special public areas designated for delegates to consume meals. 

Along with procedures already in place at the airport, hotels, restaurants, attractions and other visitor touch-points around the city, Dubai Business Events said the guidelines ensure the city will "be at the forefront of the global recovery of the business events sector".

Following the successful hosting of the Ai Everything x Restart Dubai Summer Conference in July (the first in-person event held in the region since the Covid-19 outbreak) a number of conferences and trade shows are scheduled to take place in the coming months.

A citywide effort to ensure the destination is ready to welcome the safe return of meetings and events includes the mandatory download of the Covid-19-DXB contact tracing app. 

All travellers – whether international visitors, transit passengers, or Dubai residents – must also produce a negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate before they are accepted onto flights into the UAE. This test must be taken a maximum of 96 hours before departure, at any lab accredited by health authorities at the country of departure.

Arriving at Dubai International Airport, heightened measures include protective plexiglass at check-in and immigration stops, and thermal and temperature screening.

Social distancing, wearing of masks and temperature checks in all public zones are mandatory, and taxi drivers are also required to wear both masks and gloves, and cannot carry more than two passengers at a time. 

On top of this, a recent survey by Messe Frankfurt Middle East involving more than 4,000 industry professionals from 130 countries voted Dubai as the safest place to host international meetings.

On the connectivity front, Emirates and flydubai recently reactivated their partnership, confirming codeshare flights to over 100 destinations for customers travelling with the two airlines, connecting seamlessly and safely through Dubai.