1. According to the World Economic Forum, Dubai is second only to Finland as the safest destination in the world.
2. The weather is predictable. It is too hot for outdoor events during the day, but planners can organize an evening event cooled by sea breezes and no surprise rain.
3. Everyone speaks English. And not just English; there are only about 500,000 Emirati living in Dubai, while the other 2.5 million inhabitants come from all over the world.
4. Like other Middle Eastern destinations, Dubai has strict standards of behavior. Like pork, alcohol is easily available in this Muslim city, but public drunkenness will land you in jail. Emirati women wear abayas but they work, speak to men unchaperoned, and drive. Visitors are free to wear western clothing; shorts and T-shirts are fine while sightseeing but, as in all polite society, keep bikinis at the beach.
5. Transport is easy. Traffic flows on the right, taxis are plentiful, and the city has a metro system and a monorail out to the artificial islands in the Arabian Gulf.
6. Dubai is on a building spree as it prepares to host the World’s Fair in 2020. If you can’t find the venue you want, wait six months and you will. Until then, the city has 1.5 million square feet of convention space and nearly 140,000 hotel rooms.
View galleries of Dubai meeting venues and incentives below:
