Gitex is an interesting event for us. The main show is on communications and IT, while part of one of the major halls is labelled as Infocomm MEA and covers audio-visual. The Infocomm part of the show seemed to be quieter than most of the show. Gitex is really important for the region of Middle East and Africa.
The city of Dubai has a long history of trading – the spice souk is fascinating if you have time for touristing (which I did last year). Lots of the high technology products from Asia come into Dubai and are then re-exported to other countries. The lack of income tax makes Dubai a popular place to set up regional headquarters. Because of these factors, the show is probably the most mixed in terms of culture and people that we go to.
We were disappointed to miss the Showstoppers event on the Saturday (the show starts on Sunday) – it turned out that two of the three reminders we got had the wrong time on them, so we arrived after it was all done!
