Dubai, UAE: The Middle East and Africa’s largest international trade fair for beauty products, hair, fragrances, and wellbeing opened today (8 May), with a new record in exhibitor numbers and exhibition space covered in its 23rd edition.
Spanning 61,000sqm at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Beautyworld Middle East 2018 features 1,736 exhibitors from 62 countries, making this edition the largest in more than two decades.
Running until 10th May, the annual three-day event has grown by 10 percent year-on-year in exhibitor numbers, and 11 percent in exhibition space covered, highlighting its global appeal in a Middle East and African (MEA) market that’s full of promise and potential.
The impressive international essence is underlined by the presence of 24 country pavilions, including debut pavilions from Peru, Palestine, and Russia, while more than 100 exhibitors are launching products in a MEA beauty and personal care market that, according to analysts Euromonitor, is set to grow from US$32.7 billion in 2017 to US$47.5 billion by 2021.
“Twenty three years on since its first edition, and Beautyworld Middle East continues to flourish thanks to healthy growth in regional consumer spending on beauty products and wellbeing,” said Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of the show’s organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East.
“Developing markets such as the MEA are among the fastest growing in the beauty industry, driven by rising disposable incomes and younger demographics that are increasingly connected and informed.
“It’s estimated the retail value of the MEA’s beauty and personal care market will be worth US$35.9 billion in 2018, and will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 10 percent over the next four years,” Pauwels added.
“This is in line with our own expectations for Beautyworld Middle East, which returns in 2018 with the hugely popular value-added features that attract tens of thousands of trade visitors and beauty professionals from across the globe every year.”
Beautyworld Middle East covers the key product groups of Hair, Nails & Salon Supplies, Cosmetics & Skincare, Machinery, Packaging, Raw Materials & Contract Manufacturing, Fragrance Compounds & Finished Fragrances, and Personal Care & Hygiene.
A new Natural & Organic section has also been added to the show floor this year, where more than 60 exhibitors are showcasing their clean, green, and sustainable credentials across 700sqm of exhibition space.
While international participation is at an all-time high this week, local support is also strong, with 199 UAE exhibitors covering 7,100sqm of exhibition space – a three per cent increase over 2017.
Headlining the UAE contingent is Nazih Group, one of the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) largest distributors and manufacturers of beauty products, haircare, and cosmetics. The regional powerhouse returns with one of Beautyworld Middle East’s major show highlights – Centre Stage by Nazih Group, a three-day educational showcase highlighting the latest trends and developments in the beauty industry.
EIDEAL is another regular UAE-based exhibitor in Beautyworld Middle East’s Hair, Nails & Salon Supplies section. EIDEAL is a leading manufacturer and distributor of premium hair solutions across the MENA region, and last year launched davines, an Italian eco haircare brand with its roots founded on sustainable beauty.
This year, EIDEAL is unveiling davines’ latest offering – The Circle Chronicles – a selection of hair and scalp masks, extreme hair repair masks, and hair recovery masks, that comprise a range of unique exotic healing ingredients such as red, purple and yellow clay, rhodiola extract, babassu butter, bamboo charcoal, and moringa oil.
Haysam Eid, EIDEAL’s Managing Director, said: “At Beautyworld Middle East, we’re highlighting our wide range of hair tools, which are a favourite with both top stylists in the region and celebrity stylists such as Jen Atkin, as well as the fabulous range of treatments from Amazon Keratin.”
“We also have a shampoo bar at our stand, where visitors can have a bespoke shampoo created that caters to their scent preferences and hair needs. Most importantly, in the past month, the winners of the EIDEAL-Santi Business Leader programme were announced, and at Beautyworld Middle East 2018, we’ll have the ceremony where we will present the winners with their awards,” added Eid.
Other popular show highlights returning to Beautyworld Middle East include Quintessence – the art of Perfume; Nail It! by Artistic Nail Design & OPI; and the Battle of the Barbers. New this year is Blend’It, and the Advanced Aesthetic Therapist Conference and Workshop.
Dedicated to the world of rare and niche fragrances, Quintessence is one particular feature that continues to grow in popularity, and this year presents 25 hand-picked brands. Luxe House, a distributor of premium beauty products throughout the Middle East, is returning to the exclusive showcase with five brands under its banner: Tom Daxon, Nishane, Signature Fragrances London, Teaology, and WHEN.
Doaa Tahboub, Co-Founder and Marketing Director of Luxe House, said the niche fragrance segment is enjoying a period of sustained popularity across the Gulf region: “Niche brands tend to offer a combination of higher production quality, unique charm and individuality with stronger customer engagement, while they also provide problems to specific solutions,” said Tahboub.
“Today the GCC is witnessing a growing trend within beauty and personal care, where consumers are increasingly looking for products designed to tackle specific problems or that offer clearly defined benefits. This is something that big brands normally struggle with simply because their massive operations leave very little room for tackling targeted approaches.”
Beautyworld Middle East is a magnet for wholesalers, retailers, distributors, and beauty professionals looking for the latest inspirations in beauty and wellbeing. The 23rd edition was opened by His Excellency Eng. Dawood Abdulrahman Al Hajiri, Director General of Dubai Municipality.
This year it features 24 pavilions from Argentina, Brazil, California, China, France, GCC, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Spain, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the USA.
More information is available at: www.beautyworldme.com.