GITEX 2026 has moved. The exhibitor guide to Expo City Dubai

GITEX Global has moved for the first time since 1981. The 46th edition runs 7–11 December 2026 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City Dubai — not the Dubai World Trade Centre that every returning exhibitor has memorised.

The date has moved too. October is gone. December puts the show in Dubai's peak tourism season, which changes hotel costs, flight availability and the commercial calendar your sales team works against.

This exhibitor guide covers what has changed at the venue, what it costs and the one thing every other GITEX guide leaves out — what happens to the conversations on the stand.

Forty-five years at DWTC. Now, Expo City.

GITEX Global draws more than 200,000 attendees and some 6,800 exhibiting companies across 180 countries, according to the organiser. The GITEX Scale Summit opens proceedings on 7 December; the exhibition floor runs 8–11 December.

The Dubai Exhibition Centre currently spans 46,000 square metres across two complexes, with a $2.7 billion expansion under way that will bring indoor capacity to 140,000 square metres, as reported by Khaleej Times in 2026. That is roughly 1.5 times the DWTC footprint exhibitors have built on for decades.

Every pre-2026 exhibitor guide is now wrong on venue, dates and logistics. If you exhibited at GITEX before, your assumptions about contractor accreditation, permit timelines, the delivery route and even the season need rechecking.

The venue-change checklist

When a show moves venue after 45 years, assumptions break. The Venue-change checklist covers eight things that reset at Expo City — and what to do about each before December.

![The venue-change checklist — eight items that reset when GITEX moves to Expo City Dubai]

1. 1Contractor accreditation. Your DWTC-accredited stand builder may not be accredited at the Dubai Exhibition Centre. The new venue maintains its own approved contractor list. Confirm accreditation this week.
2. 2Permit process. Expo City has a separate technical department with different documentation and timelines. Request the GITEX 2026 exhibitor manual and read the permit section before your contractor starts drawings.
3. 3Logistics route. Delivery routes, marshalling areas and unloading bays are all different from DWTC. Confirm the build-up schedule and vehicle access with the venue directly.
4. 4Hall layout. New halls, new numbering, different ceiling heights and longer sightlines. Walk the floor plan before you arrive.
5. 5Connectivity. Show-floor wifi at any major venue is unreliable. At a venue hosting its first GITEX, it is untested at this scale. Plan for offline capture on every device your team carries.
6. 6Accommodation. GITEX in October meant shoulder-season hotel rates. GITEX in December means peak-season Dubai. Book now and expect 30–50 per cent higher room rates than previous editions.
7. 7Budget uplift. Stand build costs at Expo City are expected to run 10–20 per cent higher than equivalent DWTC builds, according to multiple stand builders quoting for 2026. Add a 10–15 per cent contingency.
8. 8Commercial calendar. December is Q4 close for most businesses. Your sales team's availability, your buyers' procurement cycles and your own pipeline targets all shift. Align the show with your quarter.

What a stand at Expo City actually costs

Exhibition stand builders quoting for GITEX 2026 suggest budgeting a minimum of AED 2,500 per square metre for a professional presence at Expo City Dubai.

These figures come from multiple Dubai stand builders publishing 2026 estimates and should be treated as ranges. AV, connectivity, staffing, travel, accommodation and marketing sit on top.

A budget split commonly cited for Dubai shows runs roughly 50–60 per cent on stand design and build, 15–20 per cent on AV and technology, 10 per cent on staffing and training, and 10–15 per cent on marketing and lead capture tools, according to NS Events and Exhibitions.

Ninety conversations and a stack of cards

Every other GITEX guide stops at the stand. The stand is where conversations happen. What happens to those conversations decides whether the show pays for itself.

A team of three or four at a four-day show like GITEX runs through 80–120 conversations. Research from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research is widely cited putting unfollowed trade show leads near 80 per cent. That is 80 people who told your rep what they needed, heard a commitment, and never heard from you again.

Put your own numbers on it. If your average order value is $10,000 and one in ten of those lost conversations would have converted, that is eight orders and $80,000 in revenue that walked away — not because the leads were bad, but because nobody wrote down what was said.

The budget for marketing and lead capture is typically 10–15 per cent of total show spend. Most of it goes to printed brochures and giveaways. Very little goes to capturing the conversation itself — the part that turns a badge scan into a follow-up the buyer actually recognises.

For what that loss looks like across industries, see why hospitality companies lose their trade show leads. For the ROI calculation, trade show ROI for manufacturers walks through the maths.

What the official app captures and what it does not

GITEX's official app has historically been powered by Swapcard. It offers badge scanning, contact exchange and pre-show meeting booking. Use it — book meetings before the show opens and scan badges on the floor.

What it gives you: name, company, email, job title.

What it does not give you: what the visitor said, which product line interested them, what your rep promised to send, the timeline they mentioned, or the competitor they are comparing you against.

That gap is where leads die. A badge scan tells you who stopped at the stand. A thirty-second debrief recorded right there tells you what they need and what to do about it.

![Badge scan vs conversation capture — what survives the show floor]

MeetZaa captures the conversation, not the badge. A rep scans the card, records a voice note in thirty seconds, and AI turns it into a scored lead with a drafted follow-up — before the next visitor arrives. It works offline, which matters when the hall wifi does not. And it costs $149 per show, not $6,000 a year — because exhibitors budget per show, not per calendar.

![The AI summary — a scored lead from a 22-second voice note]

If you run 30 or more shows a year with a dedicated events team, tools like iCapture or Momencio are serious, proven choices built for that scale. If you run three to six shows with a small team, per-show pricing exists for exactly that reason.

Eight weeks to show day

Custom stands in Dubai need a minimum of eight weeks' lead time, according to NS Events and Exhibitions. December leaves less room than October did.

![Eight-week countdown to GITEX 2026 — what to lock each week]

1. 1Week 8 (mid-October). Confirm your contractor's Expo City accreditation. Submit the first permit application.
2. 2Week 6. Finalise stand design and AV requirements. Book hotels for the team — December rates climb fast.
3. 3Week 4. Brief the stand team. Assign roles: who meets, who captures, who follows up. Set up your lead capture system and test it.
4. 4Week 2. Rehearse the debrief. Every rep should be able to capture a conversation in thirty seconds.
5. 5Show week. Arrive a day early. Walk the halls. Confirm connectivity. Run one test capture on the floor.
6. 6After the show. Triage leads within 24 hours. The first vendor to follow up wins the conversation.

December is closer than it looks. If you have not called your contractor, this week is the week.