The annual International Design Exhibition (INDEX 2014) opened its doors to an estimated 24,000 visitors and 700 exhibitors Monday, May 19 at the Dubai World Trade Center.
The number of exhibitors from 44 countries has increased by 20% from last year and the number of visitors have increased to 10-13% from 2013.
The surge in the interior design market, both from the consumers and retailers is seen to be influenced partially by Dubai’s future exhibit for the World Expo 2020. The Emirates won the bid to host the six-month event last November. In addition, the growing number of hospitality projects that have recently restarted within Dubai also took an effect, making the 2014 INDEX bigger compared to 2013.
DMG Events director and Index’s organizer Samantha Kane Macdonald said, “ $128 billion worth of construction projects will be completed by the end of the year (in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries), that’s 92 per cent more than at the end of 2013.” Macdonald based these statistics from a report from Ventures Middle East, a management consultancy company.
According to Macdonald, the fit-out market for interior design is most likely to reach $2.73 billion in 2014 and will account for 35.50% of the GCC’s interior fit-out market in the country.
There will also be exhibitors coming from new countries like Algeria, South Africa, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania while exhibitors from previous participating countries such as Belgium and Poland will grow to six and twelve, respectively. Last year’s show saw deals valued at $160 million and Kane Macdonald foresees that this will increase to up to 40 per cent this year.
Aside from exhibits, visitors can also participate in seminars such as the Milou Ket talk, “Trends for the Interior: 2015/2016” from Designs in the Netherlands and the panel sessional organized by APID called “The Creative Mind” where designers and architects will discuss their design inspirations as applied to their work.
