Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) Hospitality is reporting record-breaking results for 2025, noting it served 1.28m guests across 2,578 events over the year. This represents a 37% increase from 930,000 guests in 2024.
The latest annual results for the hospitality division reflect its expanding footprint across the region’s events landscape, from major international exhibitions and high-level conferences to exclusive weddings and off-site occasions.
Operations spanned DWTC’s flagship venues – including Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) and Jafza One Convention Centre (JOCC) – alongside external events, locations and private venues throughout the United Arab Emirates.
Mahir Julfar (pictured), executive vice-president at Dubai World Trade Centre, said: “DWTC Hospitality plays a key role in supporting Dubai’s dynamic events and business tourism ecosystem, delivering exceptional experiences through world-class service. Our strength lies in operating at scale while maintaining the precision and service quality expected of a leading global destination. Hospitality today extends far beyond catering, encompassing trusted execution and seamless delivery across the entire event journey. As we continue investing in our people, infrastructure and multi-venue capabilities, alongside the expansion of Dubai Exhibition Centre, we are well positioned to support the next phase of growth in the region’s mega events landscape and further enhance Dubai’s reputation as one of the world’s leading events destinations.”
Exhibition catering emerged as the standout performer in 2025, with guest numbers surging to over 240,000, more than double the 120,000 served in 2024. The growth was driven by the expansion of DWTC’s flagship exhibitions including Gulfood, World Health Expo (WHX) Dubai, Arabian Travel Market, and GITEX Global. International operations also contributed, with DWTC Hospitality supporting GITEX Africa in Morocco, demonstrating the division’s capability to deliver world-class catering across borders.
The conferences, associations and business meetings segment saw over 123,000 attendees served in 2025, while DWTC Hospitality catered to over 600,000 guests across corporate and private events in 2025, up from 400,000 guests in 2024. The wedding segment remained a key focus area, serving 56,554 guests.
DEC and Jafza One Convention Centre both contributed significantly to the 2025 results, with over 80,000 guests catered to across both venues. And off-site operations continued to drive strong growth, with external catering increasing by 12% to serve over 160,000 guests across 1,211 events. The division supported a portfolio of high-profile engagements including the Dubai International Boat Show, Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Dubai World Cup, MEBAA Show, in addition to catering for events at Ain Dubai.
