Dubai Expo 2020 World’s Fair will be postponed to 1st October 2021 over the new coronavirus pandemic, revealed a Paris-based body that is behind the events.
The announcement came from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Countries belonging to the bureau had been voting on the requested delay for days, with a final tally expected by the end of May. However, today, the bureau said at least two-third of the countries in the organization had voted to approve the delay, which implies that it would be granted.
The Executive Committee of the bureau voted unanimously in April to back the proposal, which will see the event run from 1st October 2021, until 31st March 2022.
The Chairman and CEO of Emirates, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who also serves on Dubai Expo Committee, welcomed the decision.
“We are thankful to member states for their continued commitment to contributing to a World Expo in Dubai that will play a pivotal role in shaping our post-pandemic world at a time when it will be most needed,” Sheikh Ahmed said.
Dubai had won the rights to host the event in 2014, which helped boost Dubai’s real estate market and the officials hoped for more tourists in Dubai, home to world’s busiest airport for international travel.
However, with the pandemic having jeopardizing the global tourism, it has led for further panic in a real estate market already down by one-third since the 2014 announcement. Some countries participating in the expo are still in preliminary stages of building their pavilions for the expo, so the extra time granted may come as a relief to them.
