March 27th 2007: The UK's Centaur Media Plc and Dubai-based Dnata World of Events have signed a joint venture agreement to manage exhibitions and trade fairs in the Middle East.
Centaur, the specialist business publishing, information and events group, already hosts the Business Travel Show, an industry-leading event in Britain and Germany, and the Dubai edition of the show will be the first event to be staged jointly by the new partnership.
The new Dubai show will be presented at the Madinat Arena on 29-30 October 2007.
Calum Taylor, Managing Director of Centaur Exhibitions - a division of Centaur Media, said: "Dnata World of Events has excellent contacts in the Middle East and is a well-respected name in the industry internationally, by virtue of the number of high-profile global events that the company has presented in Dubai."
Dnata Agencies' Senior Vice President Iain Andrew described the joint venture as a "breakthrough in sharing international expertise, where complementary strengths can work to mutual benefit". He added: "Centaur Media is already well-established as one of Europe's foremost specialists in exhibition management, much the same way as Dnata Agencies is a leading travel management organisation in the Middle East."
Medhat Nassar, Manager Dnata World of Events said: "Together, we will be able to leverage our respective strengths to the advantage of clients in Europe and the Middle East. We can benefit from Centaur's European expertise while providing the same level of proven professionalism in our region."
The Gulf region is currently the world's fastest growing for business travel, with 80 per cent of travel in the region being classified as business travel. A shift in traditional buying habits towards making online bookings and transactions means that the timing of the launch is right for the needs of the business travel community in the UAE and greater Gulf region. To date the event has been very well received by the major airlines and hotel groups operating in the Gulf.
For further information please contact: :
Centaur: Calum Taylor on +44 (0)20 7970 6500 or calum.taylor@centaur.co.uk.
Dnata World of Events: Medhat Nassar on + 971 4 316 6351 or medhat.nassar@dnata.com.
About Centaur Media Plc:
Centaur Communications Ltd launched in 1982 and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2004 under a new holding company, Centaur Holdings Plc (which changed its name to Centaur Media Plc in May 2006). The company employs over 700 people and had a turnover of 82m in the financial year 2005/06 with pre-tax profits of 13m. Centaur Exhibitions is a division of Centaur Media Plc and has an excellent record of creating innovative new shows in the trade and specialist-consumer markets. Centaur Exhibitions will organise 22 exhibitions & 5 summits in 2007.
About Dnata:
Dnata World of Events is the specialist events marketing and management division of Dnata Agencies. Established since 1996 and part of the Dubai-based Emirates Group, Dnata World of Events offers a range of a one-stop solutions for event marketing and management requirements. Its professional team of event specialists have extensive experience in delivering high quality events in over 13 different destinations, ranging from a 10-person incentive group to over 10,000 delegates during the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF.
