Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company (Adnec) has revealed that during the first operational year of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre there was a massive 185 per cent increase in the number of major exhibitions staged in Abu Dhabi.

To celebrate the first anniversary of its opening, it participated in three major international events in February: London’s Confex 2008, Melbourne’s AIME and China’s UFI Open Seminar in Asia.
Since Adnec was officially opened by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on February 18, 2007, the venue has staged more than 40 major events and exhibitions.
Simon Horgan, CEO of Adnec, said: “The international model for a new exhibition centre shows us that, in the majority of cases, a venue takes time to establish itself in the market; up to 5 years in some cases.  We’ve re-written this model.  We staged more than 40 major events last year, compared to 14 at the old facilities in 2006.  We have 60 events scheduled for this year and are forecasting around 1.5 million visitors – this puts us right in the top tier of international exhibition centres.  Considering that Phase 2 of Adnec does not open until autumn this year, this is a quite remarkable achievement.”