GITEX Global 2026 Dubai: New December Dates (Dec 7–11), Tickets and Exhibitor Costs

Last updated: September 2026

Still blocking your calendar for October? Change it. GITEX Global — the tech event Dubai builds its autumn around — has moved permanently to December, and a surprising number of event listings still show the old October dates and the old single-venue plan. Booking flights or hotels against stale information is the most expensive mistake you can make here.

The confirmed GITEX 2026 Dubai dates: the 46th edition runs December 7–11, 2026 — the one-day GITEX Summit on December 7 at Dubai World Trade Centre, then the expo itself across December 8–11 at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City. Official visitor passes cost $180 (AED 630 + 5% VAT). Expand North Star, running December 8–10, is free.

This guide covers the new two-venue format, what tickets actually cost and where the real prices live, how exhibitor booking works, and the logistics of doing December in Dubai properly.

Source: GITEX Global official site

Source: GITEX GLOBAL official YouTube channel

Fact vs. myth: what is actually true for 2026

Most of the confusion around GITEX 2026 comes from outdated pages ranking well in search. Here is the fact-check in one table, so you can correct any plan built on the old format.

The new format: one summit day, four expo days, two venues

GITEX 2026 splits into two distinct experiences across two buildings. According to the official GITEX and Dubai Exhibition Centre accounts, the GITEX Summit — a one-day strategic conference — opens the week on December 7 at Dubai World Trade Centre, and the GITEX Global Expo follows on December 8–11 at Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) in Expo City, filling halls N21–N39 and S1–S19 plus pavilions.

Treat that as the authoritative version. Parts of the gitex.com homepage still carry older location details listing DWTC alone, and third-party sites contradict each other; the venue's own event page is the confirmation worth planning around.

Source: GITEX Global official site

Why the dates moved

This was a policy decision, not a scheduling shuffle. Directed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and announced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed in October 2025, GITEX moves permanently to December — deliberately placed in Dubai's peak tourism season — as part of the D33 economic agenda. The venue upgrade rides on an expansion of Expo City worth more than $2.7 billion, billed as the largest indoor exhibition venue in the region, and the 2026 edition carries the GITEX 5.0 theme alongside the new city-wide TechCation initiative. Expand North Star, the startup show, is reunified with the main event on one site for the first time in this format.

The week is also bigger than its name suggests. New and co-located additions in Dubai include New Energy, Move, Quantum Expo, COMPUTEX–Data Centre, Robotix (a physical-AI park), FLEX and the DevSlam developer festival. And GITEX is now a global circuit — earlier in 2026 it staged GITEX AI Europe in Berlin (June 30–July 1) and GITEX AI Asia in Singapore (April 9–10), with GITEX Africa continuing in Marrakech, bringing the ecosystem to 14 cities.

What GITEX Global 2026 tickets cost

An official visitor pass costs $180 — AED 630 plus 5% VAT, totaling about AED 661.50 — and that figure comes straight from the official 2026 registration form, not from a reseller. Expand North Star visitor passes are free, and delegate or VIP conference packages exist but have no published 2026 pricing at all.

A word of transparency, because other guides skip it: gitex.com currently has no public tickets page — the usual ticket addresses return nothing, and live pricing only appears once you begin the official registration process. Any site quoting exact 2026 delegate or VIP prices is estimating, including the ones named above. Along the same lines, be wary of third-party resellers charging for the free Expand North Star pass or marking up expo tickets; digiflow raised the same warning.

Source: GITEX Global official site

How to register, step by step

Registration is a five-minute online job if you know what to expect. The event is trade-focused and restricted to visitors 18 and over, so use a work email and expect professional questions.

1. Go to the official visitor registration form — this is the only channel with live 2026 pricing.
2. Choose your pass: the paid GITEX Global visitor pass, the free Expand North Star pass, or both.
3. Create your account and complete the professional profile — job title, company, country — which also feeds the event's matchmaking.
4. Enter a discount code in the dedicated field if a partner or delegation has given you one.
5. Pay the $180 (AED 630 + 5% VAT) with Visa, Mastercard or JCB, and save the confirmation.
6. Plan the two venues separately: Summit day is December 7 at DWTC; expo days are December 8–11 at DEC, Expo City.

If your goal is a stand rather than a badge, skip to the exhibitor section below — that process runs through a different form entirely.

Exhibiting in 2026: how booking actually works

There is no published exhibitor price list, and any article quoting a fixed per-square-meter rate for 2026 is guessing. Booking is a quotation process: you declare interest, the sales team qualifies you, and pricing follows your format, sector and position on the floor.

Here is how the sequence actually runs:

1. Submit the official exhibitor interest form, choosing whether you want to exhibit, sponsor, announce a product, or speak.
2. A sales contact follows up — the event is organized by KAOUN International, Dubai World Trade Centre's international arm, with the booking form processed through inD Events FZE.
3. Choose your format: space-only (bare floor you build on), a shell scheme (ready-built stand), or a lower-cost startup kiosk.
4. Receive your quotation — remember the 5% VAT applies on top, and early booking generally widens your choice of location.
5. Pick your sector track from the ten on offer: AI, cybersecurity, fintech, digital cities, edtech, healthtech, IoT and cloud, sustainable tech, telecoms, and Web3/gaming.

Scale is the argument for the price you will pay. The 2025 reference edition drew 6,800+ exhibitors and the 2026 edition anticipates 200,000+ visitors from 180+ countries, plus 2,000+ startups, 1,200+ investors managing more than $1.1 trillion, and 400+ government entities. Very few places on earth put that mix in one building — or, this year, two.

Two practical notes for companies using GITEX as a beachhead into the UAE. If you are weighing a permanent presence, our Dubai free zones comparison covers where exhibitors typically incorporate, and our guide to opening a UAE corporate bank account for non-residents walks through the part most founders underestimate. The organizer's sales team can also be reached directly at [email protected].

One SaaS startup, one kiosk, four days of demos

Picture this: a small B2B SaaS company books a startup kiosk through the interest form about five months out — early enough to secure the format, late enough that the best stand locations are mostly gone. The team arrives with a demo locked to offline mode (hall Wi-Fi is a shared resource, not a promise), a screen they brought themselves, and a meeting schedule filled weeks in advance through direct outreach to exhibitors and investors on the attendee list.

The math of the week is simple: staff the kiosk in shifts, run back-to-back 15-minute demos, and spend every evening following up on the same day's conversations. By the last afternoon they have a pipeline of warm leads that would cost far more to assemble through a year of cold outreach — the outcome that justifies a stand at all. The lesson travels well to 2026: a kiosk is not a mini trade-castle, it is a meeting magnet, and the meetings are won before you fly.

Jobs, hiring and careers at GITEX

Yes, GITEX functions as one of the largest tech hiring floors in the world — that is the angle almost every guide ignores. Where else do 6,800+ exhibiting companies, 400+ government entities, and 2,000+ startups staff booths within walking distance of each other for four days? DevSlam alone concentrates developer hiring, and Expand North Star puts founders and the 1,200+ investor crowd in the same halls as anyone pitching a career move.

Work it like a job fair with better access than any job fair. Shortlist target exhibitors before flying, book meetings in the weeks leading in, bring a CV and a QR link to your portfolio, and follow up within 48 hours while the badge scan is still warm. The calibre of people on stage matters for the same reason: the 2025 edition featured Sam Altman in conversation with G42's Peng Xiao, and UAE AI minister Omar Al Olama, per the official GITEX channel — a reminder of who walks these floors, without promising any 2026 lineup.

Source: GITEX GLOBAL official YouTube channel

If December is also your move window, Truescho opportunities lists international roles, scholarships and programs year-round, and the tech jobs filter is a practical shortlist to build before you land in Dubai.

Logistics: two venues, the metro, visas and December hotels

Plan the week around the two-venue split and everything else gets easier. December 7 is a DWTC day; December 8–11 belong to DEC at Expo City. That makes the evening of the 7th your transfer window — if you are speaking or attending the Summit and exhibiting from the 8th, move hotels, badges and gear between the two that night, not on expo morning.

Getting around. Dubai Exhibition Centre is served by the Expo 2020 metro station on the Route 2020 branch of the Red Line — a practical, air-conditioned way in and out of Expo City. DWTC sits on the Red Line as well, so one line connects your whole week if you choose a hotel near its stations.

Visas. Citizens of more than 90 countries enjoy visa-free entry or visa on arrival in the UAE. If your nationality is not among them, arrange the visa through your hotel, airline or a UAE embassy well ahead of the December rush — processing times tighten in peak season.

Hotels. Book now, not in November. The move to December was made explicitly to place GITEX in Dubai's peak tourism season, which means the same demand that fills the event fills the city's rooms. Staying near Expo City puts you close to the expo floor; staying on the Red Line trades a short ride for the rest of Dubai's advantages. Either way, prices climb as the week fills.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most GITEX planning failures trace back to stale information or late action. These are the seven we see repeatedly:

1. Planning around October dates from outdated event listings — the week is December 7–11.
2. Assuming one venue for the whole week — Summit and expo are in two different buildings on two different dates.
3. Buying passes from third-party resellers, including paying for the free Expand North Star pass.
4. Treating delegate and VIP estimates as official prices — no 2026 figures have been published.
5. Skipping the free Expand North Star registration and losing a full startup-and-investor hall.
6. Booking hotels late in what is deliberately Dubai's peak season.
7. Waiting for a published exhibitor price list instead of requesting a quote — there isn't one coming.

GITEX Global 2026: your questions answered

When is GITEX Global 2026 in Dubai?

December 7–11, 2026. The one-day GITEX Summit opens the week on Monday, December 7, and the main expo runs Tuesday through Friday, December 8–11. This is the 46th edition and the first held in December, after a permanent move away from the old October slot.

Where is GITEX Global 2026 held?

Across two venues. The GITEX Summit on December 7 takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre, and the expo on December 8–11 fills Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City, occupying halls N21–N39 and S1–S19. The official GITEX and venue accounts both confirm this split arrangement.

How much are GITEX Global 2026 tickets?

An official visitor pass costs $180 (AED 630 plus 5% VAT, about AED 661.50) through the official registration form. There is no public tickets page on gitex.com — pricing appears during registration. Expand North Star visitor passes, December 8–10, are free.

What are the GITEX Global pass types?

The published options are the paid visitor pass and the free Expand North Star visitor pass. Delegate conference passes and VIP packages exist but run through separate forms with no published 2026 pricing — only third-party estimates. The form accepts Visa, Mastercard and JCB payments.

Is GITEX Global 2026 still in October?

No. The October dates still circulating on some event listings are outdated. In October 2025 Dubai announced a permanent move to December, aligned with peak tourism season, so the 46th edition runs December 7–11, 2026 — and future editions follow the December pattern.

How do I exhibit at GITEX Global 2026, and what does a stand cost?

Submit the official interest form at mktg.gitex.com/BookAStand2026 or email [email protected]. Pricing is quotation-only, based on space-only, shell scheme or startup kiosk options — no public price list exists. Budget for the 5% VAT on top of whatever the sales team quotes.

Is Expand North Star free to attend?

Yes. Visitor registration for Expand North Star — the startup and investor show running December 8–10 inside Dubai Exhibition Centre — is free through the same official form and expandnorthstar.com. It brings 2,000+ startups and 1,200+ investors together alongside the main expo.

Do I need a visa for GITEX Dubai?

Most business travelers do not need to arrange one in advance: citizens of more than 90 countries enjoy visa-free entry or visa on arrival in the UAE. If your nationality is not on that list, apply through your hotel, airline or a UAE embassy well before December.

What to do next

Your December week is only as good as the next two weeks of preparation. Run this checklist in order:

1. Lock the dates — December 7–11, 2026 — in your calendar and correct any October entry that is still there.
2. Register as a visitor through the official 2026 registration form and add the free Expand North Star pass while you are in there.
3. Book hotels and flights now — December is peak season by design, and prices only move one way from here.
4. Check your visa status against the 90+ eligible countries, and start the application early if you are not on the list.
5. Exhibitors: submit the interest form or email [email protected] this week — the best stand locations go first.
6. Job seekers and founders: shortlist target exhibitors, book your meetings, and browse Truescho opportunities for roles and programs worth discussing on the floor.

The dates changed. The venue doubled. Tickets land in the same ballpark as last year. Everything else is just preparation.

Sources

• GITEX Global official site — dates, format, registration and exhibitor links
• GITEX Global 2026 visitor registration — official form carrying current ticket pricing
• Book a stand at GITEX Global 2026 — exhibitor interest form and quotation process
• Expand North Star — free visitor registration for the December 8–10 startup show
• Dubai Exhibition Centre — venue details for the December 8–11 expo halls