Dubai World Trade Centre welcomed 2.74 million visitors in 2015, up 12 per cent year-on-year, it was announced on Monday.

A total of 396 trade events were hosted at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre venue last year across sectors such as healthcare, security, food, travel, technology and construction.

The number of exhibiting companies also grew 17 per cent to 53,547 from 185 countries.

With nearly 41 per cent international participation across its portfolio of events, DWTC said it accounted for an additional 1,066,865 global visitors to Dubai.

The primary international source markets included Saudi Arabia, India, United Kingdom, Pakistan, China, Qatar, Oman, Iran, Jordan and Egypt.

Last year also saw the introduction of 27 new shows including eight exhibitions and 19 associations and conferences such as the Digital Health & Medical Technology Conference and Internet of Things.

“The sectors we cover within our calendar have always been very closely aligned with the industries that the government of Dubai seeks to invest in and develop over the medium to long term,” said director general of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority Helal Saeed Almarri.

“Through 2015, we have grown our venue capacity, expanded our facilities to provide more customised solutions for specialised event types and built in even more versatility and flexibility into the hosting infrastructure we offer our clients.”

DWTC added 15,500 square metres of further covered exhibition space to the venue last year with three new halls, increasing overall capacity to over 121,984 square metres.

The expansion is expected to support 2016 growth expectations.

“Over the next three years, our priorities are aligned to the economic diversification focus of the UAE and Dubai, so that DWTC sustainably drives long-term returns for the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry and consequently build its contribution to our GDP,” added Almarri.