GITEX Global 2026 Stand Staffing: Dates, Venue and the Team to Book

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Cover Page Agency · Est. 2015

Italy · UAE · France

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Updated 29 September 2026

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Every year the same question lands in our inbox in September: "GITEX is in October, can you still find us hostesses?" This year the answer starts with a correction. GITEX Global 2026 is not in October. It has moved to December and to a new venue, and that changes how every exhibitor should plan the people on the stand.

This guide gives visitors the essentials first: dates, venues, a map, the history of the show, the sectors and how to get tickets. Then it turns to exhibitors: booking a stand, which roles a GITEX stand needs, how many people per stand size, same day content, when to book and how to brief a team that still smiles on day four.

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GITEX Global 2026 dates, venues and programme

GITEX Global 2026 runs from 7 to 11 December 2026. The organiser splits it in two. The GITEX Summit opens the week on Monday 7 December at Dubai World Trade Centre, as the official conference overview confirms, with five stages across the show, leadership roundtables and free Tech Talks. The expo follows over four days, from Tuesday 8 to Friday 11 December, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City Dubai.

GITEX confirmed the move in its opening release for the 45th edition in October 2025, framed around a new format and a longer stay in the city. The organiser calls it TechCation: business by day, Dubai’s winter season around it, with the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend in the same weeks. Khaleej Times reported the shift to December as a deliberate move into peak tourism season. Expand North Star, the startup show inside GITEX, runs from 8 to 10 December according to its investor programme page.

The venue is built for it. The Dubai Protocol announced an AED 10 billion expansion of the Dubai Exhibition Centre in September 2024, growing in phases to 180,000 square metres and 26 halls over 1.2 km by 2031. In November 2025 the Dubai Media Office confirmed the first phase ready for mega events, with 140,000 square metres of event space and room for up to 50,000 visitors a day. The UAE National Media Authority lists the expo on its events calendar for 8 to 11 December at Expo City Dubai.

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Where GITEX 2026 happens: the two venues on a map

GITEX 2026 is one week in two places. Dubai World Trade Centre sits on Sheikh Zayed Road with World Trade Centre metro station at its door. The Dubai Exhibition Centre sits in Expo City Dubai in Dubai South, next to Expo 2020 station, the terminus of the Red Line branch built for Expo 2020. The National describes the new halls as connected to the metro and planned for more than 65,000 visitors a day by 2031.

Moving between them is simple if you plan it. The Dubai Metro Red Line runs directly to Expo 2020 on its Route 2020 branch; an independent Dubai Metro guide puts the full trip from Centrepoint at about 51 minutes, with trains every three to four minutes at peak. For exhibitors, the practical point is that the summit day and the expo days start from different ends of the city: book hotels and staff transport accordingly.

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The map below shows the route between the two GITEX 2026 venues: Dubai World Trade Centre in the city centre and the Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City Dubai, to the south west.

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What GITEX is for: the history of the show

GITEX exists to put technology in front of the people who buy it for the region: governments, banks, telcos, retailers and a fast growing startup scene. The organiser, Dubai World Trade Centre, describes more than four decades of the show on its about page, and The National’s timeline traces how it grew.

It started in December 1981 as the Gulf Computer Exhibition, in one hall at the Trade Centre, with 46 exhibitors and 3,000 visitors. It became GITEX in 1988, passed 10,000 visitors a year later and hosted the regional launch of Windows 95. By its 25th anniversary in 2006 it drew 125,000 visitors, and in 2022 it was rebranded GITEX Global across 26 halls. The 44th edition in 2024 counted 6,500 exhibitors, 1,800 startups and 200,000 visitors, according to the organiser’s closing release. In 2025 it outgrew the Trade Centre and spread to Dubai Harbour, with more than 40 halls. In 2026 it moves to Expo City Dubai.

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Startups that stood out at recent editions

The closing report of GITEX Global 2025 counted 6,800 technology companies, 2,000 startups and 1,200 investors from 180 countries, and Gulf News called that edition record breaking. Economy Middle East described it as the year of outcome driven dialogue between governments, investors and enterprise. Behind the totals are companies that used the week well.

• AIM Intelligence, a South Korean AI safety startup, won the Supernova Challenge at Expand North Star 2025 and its USD 100,000 top prize, from a pool of USD 300,000.
• Chucao Technology Consultants from Chile, working in nanotechnology, and Aerialoop from Ecuador, working in drone logistics, were the runners up.
• Mobility Fintech Group announced a USD 2 million investment from AHOY Technology during the show.
• Crescent Enterprises used the stage to announce an AED 250 million programme for UAE ventures.

All four are reported in the organiser’s release on the 10th Expand North Star. The pattern is clear: the startups that stood out arrived with one sharp story, pitched it on a stage and had people on the stand ready to take the meeting that followed. Expand North Star’s investor page adds that the 2025 edition logged 5,340 concierge meetings with an 81 percent attendance rate for pre scheduled meetings.

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Every sector at GITEX Global 2026

GITEX organises its floor by sector. The organiser’s stand booking page lists ten verticals, from AI and cybersecurity to digital finance, future health and Web 3, and the 2026 edition adds dedicated shows inside the show: GITEX World Robotix for physical AI at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, GITEX MOVE for electric, autonomous and air mobility, GITEX Green Impact for climate tech, and Expand North Star for startups and investors. CX Today adds a Robotics Park with live demonstrations. AI Everything, often mentioned alongside GITEX, is a separate event in the same family held in Abu Dhabi.

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Hall numbers for 2026 follow the Dubai Exhibition Centre listing, which names north halls N21 to N39 and south halls S1 to S19; the sector map by hall is not yet published. Whatever your hall, we brief stand staff on your sector before the doors open.

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How to get GITEX 2026 tickets

GITEX is a trade show, and every visitor needs an online registration and a badge. Based on the organiser’s pages, the process works like this:

1. Register online. Passes are sold on the official GITEX ticket site. Choose your pass type there.
2. Check the price when you register. 2026 prices were not published on the pages we could read. For reference, Digiflow reported standard visitor passes at about AED 580 to 630 for 2025. Earlier registration has been cheaper in past editions.
3. Investors apply separately. Expand North Star offers a complimentary investor pass after vetting and a premium investor pass at USD 495, according to its investor programme page.
4. Plan your days. The summit on 7 December is at the Trade Centre; the expo from 8 December is at Expo City. Tech Talks inside the expo are free to attend with your badge.

Free tickets: apart from the vetted investor pass, we found no published free visitor route for 2026. If someone offers you a free pass or a code, confirm it with the organiser before you travel.

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Book your stand at GITEX Global 2026

A stand at GITEX pays back fastest for companies that need buyers and partners more than they need visibility:

• Enterprise vendors entering the Gulf. Government and enterprise buyers from across the region walk the halls in one week.
• Startups looking for investors. Expand North Star reported more than 1,300 investors from 65 countries in 2025, with concierge meetings booked in advance.
• Country pavilions. Trade agencies bringing a group of companies under one flag.
• Robotics and mobility brands. GITEX World Robotix and GITEX MOVE give live demonstrations their own space.
• Brands launching a product. The organiser’s booking form lets you register to announce a product or partnership at the show.

A success story that starts on the floor. AIM Intelligence came to Expand North Star 2025 as one startup among 2,000 and left as Supernova champion with USD 100,000. A stand, a pitch and a team ready to take the next meeting turned a week into a funding story.

What a stand costs. GITEX does not publish space rates; you receive a quote through the booking form. For planning, the same organiser’s GISEC 2024 rate card at the Trade Centre shows what a small shell package costs all in, and Orchestra Media’s exhibitor guide estimates custom builds at Expo City at 10 to 20 percent above equivalent Trade Centre builds, warning that a contractor accredited at the Trade Centre may not be accredited at the new venue.

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To book, start on the organiser’s GITEX 2026 stand booking form. Prime locations go early, so book space first and staff second, but not long after.

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The roles a GITEX stand needs

A GITEX stand is not one job. The mistake we see most often is asking one person to welcome, demo, scan and post on social media at the same time. Split the roles, one person, one job, and every visitor gets a proper conversation. As a staffing agency in Dubai we build GITEX teams around these six roles.

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Bilingual presenters matter more at GITEX than at almost any show in Dubai. Government delegations often prefer Arabic, while many investor and startup visitors come from Europe, Russia, China and Africa. A presenter who can run your demo in the visitor’s language turns a polite nod into a meeting.

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How many staff your stand needs, by size

Street Teams Co’s trade show staffing guide gives each staff member about 50 square feet of the stand, roughly 4.6 square metres, and advises booking 10 to 15 percent more people than you think you need. At a show of 200,000 visitors we plan a little above that, because the aisles never empty. Here is the guide we use when a client sends us a floor plan.

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Two notes. These numbers are per shift: a stand open from morning to evening for four days needs a second shift or a proper break rota, otherwise the team is tired by the third afternoon. And if you run a summit presence on 7 December at the Trade Centre, count it as a separate team.

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When to book your GITEX stand staff

Work back from the opening on 8 December. Orchestra Media puts build up in late November, which is also when your team should walk the stand and learn the product. Casting and fittings take time, and so does finding a presenter who speaks Mandarin and understands data centres. December adds pressure: Lensmor notes the split between summit and expo venues, and the whole city is in season.

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Same day photo and video from your stand

For five days GITEX is one of the most posted events in the world. Exhibitors, speakers, ministers and the organiser all publish in real time, and the brands that post while the show is running ride that wave on social and on the web. Content that arrives a week later arrives after the conversation has moved on.

That is why on spot editing is our standard at shows. Our photographer covers your stand, your demos and your VIP visits, and within the hour you receive edited, print quality photos at 300 ppi, ready for LinkedIn, your website and the press. Short reels follow the same day. See our photo and video packages for brands for the formats.

The kit is cinema grade. Video is filmed on the Sony FX5, which records internal 16 bit X-OCN RAW in 5K open gate, holds more than 15 stops of dynamic range and films slow motion up to 120 fps in 4K, so a robot arm or a holographic screen reads clean in every frame. Stills come from the Sony A1 at 50.1 megapixels, sharp enough for a trade magazine cover.

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What we see on the floor

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How to brief your stand team for four show days

• One page brief. Who you are, the three products on the stand, the one question to ask every visitor, and who is a hot lead.
• A product training session. An hour with your product team before the show, with time to try the demo.
• Lead rules. What to scan, what to write in the notes, and who follows up within 48 hours.
• A dress code in writing. Your brand wear or our black suits, shoes that survive four days, badge on the left.
• A rota. Breaks every two hours, a lunch plan, a reserve per shift.
• One contact. Your stand manager talks to our team leader; our team leader talks to the team.

Do these six things and a staffed stand behaves like your own sales team, not a crowd in uniform. Since 2015 this is how we have staffed stands, launches and activations across Dubai.

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The author

Lukas Götze

Marketing Director, Cover Page Agency

Over 1,000 activations across Dubai, Milan and Lyon since 2015. Turns events into brand moments with professional content and verified results.

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