Franchise Excellence Generates Interest from visitors to Dubai Franchise Show

Franchising Middle East, FME took place once again at the prestigious Dubai International Exhibition Centre and the Franchise Excellence (FranExcel) team, bolstered by the presence of our international associates from Malaysia, Singapore and Kuwait had an excellent response from visitors, accepting more than 250 strong enquiries.

The show was officially inaugurated by Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum – Son of H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, The Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE. FranExcel CEO, Sary Hamway, presented the company to H.H. Sheikh Majid, when his entourage visited our stand and he was very impressed by our exhibition stand and the services FranExcel was offering to the regional and international franchise industry.

The exhibition offered local and regional entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet and interact with franchisors and companies representing franchise brands from across the world, looking to enter into the Middle East market. FME 2007 was presented and supported by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders. Its vision is to nurture domestic entrepreneurial spirit in Dubai and to catalyze the development & growth of the small & medium business sectors of the UAE economy. FME 2007 was also supported by the International Franchise Association (IFA), amongst many other leading national franchise associations, and was represented by Marcel Portman, the IFA VP for International Development.

FranExcel helped the organizers to organise the associated Seminar program, which ran across the first two days of the event. Speakers brought to Dubai for the seminar program included Ramon Vinay, Lelia Laila, Albert Kong, just to name a few. Local speakers included Sary Hamway and Gareth Parry from FranExcel, and Abdul Baset Al Janahi and Sharif Akkad, as regional speakers.

An important session, led by FranExcel and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Association, talked about the formation of the UAE Franchise Association and it was agreed that further talks were needed to take this exciting project forward.

FME 2007 facts & figures:

• International trade exhibition for franchising

• Gross Area _ 2647 square meters

• 15 % growth in exhibition space

• 60 Direct exhibitors

• 125 Companies represented

• 70 % International Exhibitors

• 30 % Local Exhibitors

• 2 National Pavilions

• 20 Food & beverage companies Exhibited

Visitors Attendance Statistics:

• 3560 visitors from 57 countries

• 51% local visitors & 49% international visitors.

• Visitors attended from all over the GCC, MENA region, Indian Subcontinent etc.

A survey was conducted at the conclusion of the show (50 completed questionnaires received) indicated that 80% of the Exhibitors have rated the show as “Good” and have mentioned their participation in the show a success. Exhibitors were pleased with the overall show promotion & the attendance from U.A.E & outside. This included FranExcel, which had an excellent show and will be very much part of the event in 2008.

The 2008 edition of the FME show is set to be bigger & better than ever in terms of scope, market reach and overall objective. FME 2008 will also focus on the latest industry trends & will have an international conference, to be run by FranExcel in association with the event organizers, IEC), exciting seminar sessions which will run simultaneously with the Exhibition and is scheduled to take place in June 2008.