Destination Dubai: The UITP Summit will arrive in the UAE in April 2026

01/03/2024

Global
MENA
Summit
Urban development
Urban mobility
Urban transport policy

UITP and the city of Dubai share a lengthy and successful relationship that goes all the way back to the 1990s when our membership in the UAE began to grow…

From those historic beginnings, our first regional office in the city was opened in 2005, leading the way for a prosperous partnership with the Roads and Transport Authority Dubai (RTA) that grows closer with each event.

Now, as the MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition 2024 draws to a close, UITP and RTA look ahead to the future when the world of urban mobility will be focused on ‘Destination Dubai’ for the 2026 Summit…

And we’re pleased to officially announce the dates 21-23 April 2026, as Dubai will become the public transport capital of the world across those three days.

When the UITP Summit arrives in Dubai in 2026, it will be exactly fifteen years since the Summit was last hosted there in 2011. Even then, the city was very well advanced when it comes to urban mobility. Since then, public transport has developed at a truly impressive rate thanks to the strong focus and commitment of RTA. With the changes to our global events strategy, Dubai will become the first city outside of Europe to host the new UITP Summit. I’m excited to see what outstanding urban mobility options the delegates will experience upon their arrival.”
Mohamed Mezghani
UITP Secretary General

We know that by this point you will have been in Hamburg the year before for the 2025 edition, the first of two to be held in the German city.

After all, we may have wrapped a hugely successful 2023 edition in beautiful Barcelona, but we already have our sights set on the next host cities to carry forward the incredible achievements made last year!

With the news that the Summit would take place every year starting from 2025, Hamburg was announced as our winning host city!

And now, we’re pleased to announce the official dates for the 2026 Annual Summit, which will see us return to Dubai for the first time in 15 years when the UITP Global Summit was held in 2011.

Dubai will also hold the international distinction of being the first host city to welcome the UITP Summit under our new Annual approach.

2026 will also be a year of another very special UITP anniversary: one year after celebrating our 140th anniversary as an association (17 August 2025), we will acknowledge with great pride the 140th anniversary of the UITP Summit – which began in Berlin in 1886, one year after UITP was born.

With UITP’s presence in the region, and significant investments in public transport projects, the MENA region is witnessing a clear paradigm shift towards more public transport…

Destination Dubai 2026 – we’ll see you all there!

Visit the dedicated UITP Summit website