The 250+ exhibitors from over 40 countries who took part in the 2007 Gulf Traffic Exhibition, which ended its highly successful three-day run at Dubai International Exhibition Centre on Wednesday December 12th, have rated the show a major success.
“We designed Gulf Traffic as a comprehensive showcase of essential products and services that are vitally important to governments across the region who face a wide range of transportation challenges that must be solved quickly and efficiently to ensure continued economic growth,” said Sarah Woodbridge, Group Director Exhibitions, IIR Middle East - organisers of the event. “Gulf Traffic 2007 exceeded expectations in terms of the number of high quality visitors that attended the show, but most satisfying from our point of view is that exhibitors achieved their objectives in being here, meeting and developing valuable business contacts with the region’s key industry professionals.”
This was confirmed by Ashish Goel of 3M Gulf, who said, “There’s a good overall quality of exhibitors showing new products. The show’s been good - lots of people were interested in our products and we also met people who are setting up in Dubai, so we have plenty of leads to follow up on.”
The market potential of the region is clear to see. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior and General Directorate of Traffic has allocated US$ 800 million to an ATVAM - Automated Traffic Violation Administration & Management - project, and Madrid-based Gulf Traffic exhibitor Telvent has signed a €90 million (US$132 million) deal with Saudi Arabian conglomerate Dallah TransArabia that will see the company implementing integral traffic management solutions in Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and surrounding regions over the next two years. Jeddah-based PMD House will be involved on the project management front.
Raman Multani, CEO of Right Angle, the company that developed the world’s first air-conditioned bus shelters which are currently being installed across Dubai, said “ It’s our first time at Gulf Traffic - we came here with the intention of showcasing our capacity and capability to various traffic departments from the MENA region, and there has been a fair amount of interest from countries outside the UAE - for example Turkey, Iran and Egypt.  This will hopefully lead to future business opportunities, so we have achieved what we set out to do.”
With key support from the Government of Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), 3M and Vossloh, Gulf Traffic 2007 covered over 8,000 square metres and featured major industry names including VAE GmbH, Siemens, Thales, Quixote and Serco.
Horst Draudt, Regional Director of UAE based Dornier Consulting said that the show had gone well. “We’ve had a good show, meeting a lot of clients, partners and potential partners. It has been a worthwhile investment.”
Gulf Traffic also receives active support from leading international bodies including UBI France, Bayern International (Germany), ITS South Africa and The Railway Industry Association (UK).
Dr. Bill Sowell, Director of International Business for Econolite International, felt that the growth of the show since 2005 was significant. “The quality of visitors was better here than major European shows, we made some good contacts and opened up potential for expansion.  Gulf Traffic is good value, it’s a good opportunity to meet our Middle East distributors all in one place, which saves us both time and money.”
Other exhibitors commented on the number of international visitors at the show. Tarik Oranc, Manager Traffic Systems Department of Turkish company Aselsan, who build and install tolling systems, said “Overall this has been a good show for us, we’ve had visitors from many countries, including Tunisia, Morocco and India - we hope that our current project in Oman will act as a reference for future new projects.”
Gulf Traffic is acknowledged as the Middle East’s premier traffic and infrastructure show. “We really appreciate the strong support that we receive from the RTA, which demonstrates the importance of the event,” added Woodbridge. “As a result of strong industry demand and the huge potential that Abu Dhabi offers, we are building on the success of Gulf Traffic by introducing Roadex-Railex which runs at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 23-25 November 2008.”