The Middle East’s largest and fastest growing watch and jewelry show will take place at a new location, the renovated and expanded Airport Expo from Dec. 5 to 9.

The move to Airport Expo’s new halls will accommodate the increased exhibition space demand from local and international jewelry industry as well as the growing profile of the event that will include both the watch and jewelry trade, according to show organizers, the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The show now renamed Watch & Jewelry Dubai from the former International Jewelry Dubai to accurately represent the growth of the watch sector at the show, DWTC said.

“WJD characterizes the natural growth and progression of the jewelry trade in the region and further enhances the product offerings,” said DWTC Director General, Helal Saeed Khalfan Al Marri. “The show will now enable both jewelry and watch manufacturers and distributors to target the exhibition’s trade buyers and high net worth individuals from the Middle East region from a single platform.”

The Middle East is a region where luxury watch brands generate almost ten per cent of their entire global sales, DWTC said. The UAE has consistently ranked among the top 15 importers of prestige watches in the last few years and in 2004 the country was ranked at number 11.

Organizers said Watch & Jewelry Dubai 2005 will keep its twin focus as a business-to-business platform while simultaneously targeting consumers with high spending power.

The show is expected to build on last year’s growth, DWTC said. The event registered a 102 percent increase in exhibitors to a total of 454, as well as a 20 percent increase in visitors in 2004.

JCK