For four decades, planning a Dubai exhibition meant planning for Dubai World Trade Centre, not Expo City Dubai. That assumption stopped being safe in 2026.
GITEX Global moved to Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City Dubai for its 2026 edition, the first time it has been held outside DWTC since it started in 1981. WHX Dubai, the show most people still call Arab Health, runs its 2027 edition from 25 to 28 January across both venues at once.
If you exhibit on a shell scheme stand, most of what changes is logistical rather than structural. But the parts that do change have deadlines attached.
Venue technical requirements are published by each venue — Dubai Exhibition Centre and DWTC each maintain their own. This is the detail that catches people out, and it is not obvious from the outside. Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai Exhibition Centre are not two halls of the same organisation for operational purposes. They run separate technical departments and separate approved contractor lists.
A build team cleared to work at DWTC is not automatically cleared at Expo City. Neither is paperwork. Drawings, method statements and material certificates prepared for one venue should be rechecked against the other’s current requirements before anything is submitted.
For a plain shell scheme booth this rarely matters much — you are branding a structure the organiser has already erected, and that structure is the official contractor’s responsibility. It starts to matter the moment your stand includes anything the venue has to approve: a raised platform, a suspended element, heavy items fixed to the walls, or a structure built inside the shell.
If you are at the stage of choosing who builds for you, our guide to DWTC approved stand contractors covers what venue accreditation actually means and what to ask.
What does not change
Worth saying plainly, because the venue move has been written about as though everything is different.
The shell scheme itself behaves the same way. The organiser still erects the walls, the fascia and the floor covering. Your branding still has to work within the panel dimensions and the internal height. The fixing rules are still set by the organiser rather than by you, and they still appear in the exhibitor manual rather than anywhere else.
Everything in our guide to reading your exhibitor manual applies at either venue. What changes is which manual, and which technical department is behind it.
What changes at Expo City Dubai
Where your crew and freight go
Expo City Dubai sits on the Expo 2020 site in Dubai’s southern corridor, roughly 35 to 45 minutes from the centre rather than on Sheikh Zayed Road. That affects delivery scheduling, how early an install team needs to leave, and what it costs to send someone back for something forgotten.
For a shell scheme fit-out the practical consequence is simple: build in less margin for a second trip. Everything the booth needs should arrive in one load.
The exhibitor manual is a different document
A different venue means a different manual. The exhibitor manual for Expo City Dubai is not the DWTC one, and the deadlines differ. Do not reuse last year’s dates. The four that matter — artwork, services order, build-up access and breakdown — should be re-extracted from the new document rather than assumed.
Reusing a stand from a previous show needs a check
If you have graphics or fit-out elements from a previous DWTC appearance, confirm the panel dimensions and internal height at the new venue before assuming they transfer. Shell scheme specifications are set per show, and an asset that fitted one booth will not necessarily fit another.
WHX Dubai 2027: the one that runs across both venues
This is the genuinely unusual case, and it is nine weeks out at the time of writing.
WHX Dubai 2027 takes place from 25 to 28 January across Dubai Exhibition Centre and Dubai World Trade Centre. For a single-stand exhibitor it is straightforward enough: you are in one hall, at one venue, working to that venue’s rules.
For anyone with stands in both — which is realistic for larger healthcare suppliers and for country pavilions — it means two sets of venue requirements, two access regimes and two delivery addresses for one show. Worth confirming which venue your hall allocation sits in before any design work starts, because the answer determines whose rules apply.
Checklist if your show has moved to Expo City Dubai
- Confirm which venue your hall is actually in. Do not assume from the show name.
- Download the current exhibitor manual. It is not last year’s.
- Re-extract the four deadlines. Artwork, services, build-up, breakdown.
- Check panel dimensions and internal height against anything you are reusing.
- If your stand includes anything structural, confirm your contractor’s position with that venue’s technical department.
- Rebuild the logistics plan around the actual location, not the old one.
- Update travel and accommodation guidance for your own team. Expo City is not where Dubai exhibitions used to be.
Frequently asked questions
Which Dubai shows have moved to Expo City Dubai?
GITEX Global moved for its 2026 edition, running 7 to 11 December at Dubai Exhibition Centre with the Scale Summit on 7 December at DWTC. WHX Dubai, formerly Arab Health, runs 25 to 28 January 2027 across both Dubai Exhibition Centre and DWTC. Other shows have announced moves, so confirm the venue for your specific event rather than assuming.
Is Dubai Exhibition Centre the same as DWTC?
No. They are separate venues with separate technical departments and separate approved contractor lists. Dubai Exhibition Centre is at Expo City Dubai, on the Expo 2020 site; DWTC is on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Does my shell scheme booth design need to change for Expo City?
The design approach is the same, but the specification is per show. Confirm panel dimensions, internal height and the permitted fixing method from the current exhibitor manual rather than reusing figures from a previous DWTC appearance.
Can I reuse graphics from a previous DWTC show?
Sometimes, but check first. Shell scheme panel dimensions are set by the organiser for each show, and graphics produced to one specification will not necessarily fit another.
How far is Expo City Dubai from the city centre?
Roughly 35 to 45 minutes depending on traffic and route. Plan freight timing and crew travel around that rather than around a city-centre venue.
Does a contractor approved at DWTC automatically work at Expo City?
No. The two venues maintain separate approved contractor lists. If your stand involves anything requiring venue approval, confirm your contractor’s position with the technical department for the venue you are actually in.
Exhibiting at a show that has moved?
We build at Expo City Dubai and at DWTC. Orange Fairs has designed and built exhibition stands in the UAE since 2005, with our own workshop in Dubai and our own installation crew. We check the exhibitor manual for your specific show and venue as part of quoting, so the design is built to the right rules from the start.
Send us your exhibition, venue, stand number and size and we will come back with a 3D concept and an itemised quote. The design costs nothing.
