Expo 2020 continues to progress on all fronts, Manal Al Bayat, Expo s Chief Engagement Officer told CNBC. We re all geared up and excited to host the world in October of 2021 and bring everyone together in the spirit of hope and optimism.
Recent vaccine news and a series of in-person events in Dubai has given organizers hope that tourists will travel to attend its long-vaunted world s fair, after it was delayed a year by the pandemic. The costly spectacle comes as Dubai navigates an economic contraction almost four times worse than during the global financial crisis in 2009. From a physical visitation perspective, do we expect people to come? Yes, Al Bayat said. If we look at the malls, if we look all around the city, people have started to feel comfortable to come out again.