Gitex 2009- A Crowd Puller

Gitex took place on the 17th of October till the 24th offering a great deal in gadgets and electronics. The prime event for technology is conducted on a large scale for the customers of the Middle East. People come from all over the world just to be a part of this event that exists only for a week every year.

People waiting outside the doors waiting for Gitex to start.

(Photo credits : Khadija Ashraf)

Gitex 2009 was one of the most awaited events this year. I visited this massive event on its second last day. On my way to the Shoppers I saw people walking from the other end of the road towards Gitex. In a way it was very surprising to see people walking on the roads of Dubai. People had parked their cars in the middle of the road not caring about the fact that they would be fined. Everyone was desperate to go in and buy all they could. When I sat in the shuttle bus, it was almost full of different people from different classes sitting in one bus desperately waiting to visit this event.

( Photo Credits : Khadija Ashraf)

As I stepped out of the bus I felt tiny looking at the crowd nearing a stampede. It took me 20 minutes to enter, as people from different sides were pushing in different ways just to enter first. I felt like I was back in Pakistan in a fish market. The only difference here was that this place was air-conditioned and well thought-out. There was no place to walk, I literally did not know where I was going, to me everything looked the same, red and yellow were the only colors I could see. People were keen to go into every stall to see the latest discounts and the latest products. The promoters were standing in the middle giving out brochures to everyone even if people were not interested. They were just doing their job!

There were people from all ages, all classes. From students to parents to children to bachelors, you would find everyone under one roof! I thought if Gitex was extended for a month would the crowd be the same? Or would people slow down a bit taking it for granted.
With so many customers, there were many promoters offering different products. There were promoters standing in the middle giving out brochures, some of which the customers wouldn’t even bother looking at, throwing it away in the bin. When I was walking I looked at 5bins, and I was shocked to see it full of brochures instead of other waste products.

Dustbin full of Brochures

(Photo Credits : Khadija Ashraf)

On the other hand there were people keen to see what was there on the brochure. What the company had to offer its customers. There were different people with different reasons to be there at Gitex.
Some were there just to see what Gitex was about and some were there to do serious business. People had come there by their own cars and many of them using the metro. The metro also experienced a boom with Gitex, as there was a huge crowd at the Rashidiya Metro Station where people were desperately waiting to reach Shoppers.
Overall Gitex has always been the same, every year the people visiting this event increases which makes it more interesting, but I wonder if there will be a time when people might find Gitex too monotonous to visit it every year. Would it lose its charm like global village has or would it keep growing with every year coming its way?