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Two
years ago a major gap in the global event calendar
was filled when the Middle East and Africa region
(MEA) was given a well deserved place in the spotlight
thanks to the Domain
Days Dubai (DDD) conference created by
Munir
Badr. Munir is an industry veteran who
is currently celebrating
the 20th anniversary of another enterprise
he founded, AEserver.com,
the UAE's largest privately owned domain name
registrar & web/cloud hosting company where he
also serves as CEO. DDD
proved to be a hit right out of the gate with
people coming from around the world for outstanding
events in 2023
and 2024.
Now we are just three weeks away from the 3rd
edition coming up October 22-23, 2025 with
a return to Dubai's picturesque Marriott
Resort Palm Jumeirah. While the response to
his first two shows was extremely gratifying,
Munir is all about constantly growing and
improving every enterprise he in involved in. When
I connected with him this week to catch up on what
he has in store for attendees this time, he
quickly confirmed what I suspected - that it was
something he started working on the minute last
year's DDD ended with a cruise along Dubai's
spectacular waterfront. "Absolutely!,"
Munir declared! "As soon as the yacht pulled
back into the marina last year, I already had a Google
Doc titled DDD 2025! :-) The |
Munir
Badr
Domain Days Dubai Founder & CEO
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momentum
and the feedback from all the attendees was too
strong not to build on. For 2025, we’ve doubled
down on two things: Improved content depth -
with more focus on panel sessions and the overall
attendee experience - our Middle Eastern
hospitality at its best!"
"On
the content side, we’re introducing more
structured tracks, with two sessions focused on
the art of domain investing and aftermarket,
another on digital infrastructure and hosting
in the MEA region, and a third on AI, brand
protection, and domain industry evolution specific
to this region & beyond. The conversations
here in the Middle East aren’t just about buying
and selling domains anymore - it’s about local
hosting & data sovereignty, M&A,
infrastructure, and how to do business in the
region."
Munir
said sponsors and guests are in for a special treat.
"Experience-wise, all
digital (LED) booths for exhibitors, overall expanded
exhibit and lounge areas for real deal-making,
and for the first time, a surprise give-away
that is both personalized and meant to last for our
attendees - created right in front of their eyes
- that's all I can say at this stage. The event
spirit remains boutique, with the usual two
days of all inclusive business mixed with fun."
A
scene from the 2024 Domain Days Dubai conference.
DDD
already has many proven elements in place that
people want to see more of, especially those related
to the MEA region. "On that front we will be
sticking with our core pillars," Munir said.
Those are:
-
Government
& regulator participation
- TDRA (.ae registry), TRA Bahrain (.bh
registry), KeNIC (.ke), .ZA Authority, RICTA (.rw),
AFTLD and others from the region will be on site
and some on stage again. People come to Dubai
not just for knowledge but for global
networking opportunities.
-
Arabic
/ multilingual domain strategy
— big focus this year on local domains and
running local web hosting business, Web3 naming
systems and cross-language branding.
-
Hosting,
infrastructure & cybersecurity
— with updated data residency laws in Saudi,
UAE and across the GCC, this region is becoming
a serious hub for cloud & managed
services. We’re giving it proper space.
"These
topics are not “nice-to-have” anymore
here," Munir added, "They determine who
wins the next decade of digital growth in this
region. Apart
from this, the event offers fair air time for all
our sponsors and partners to present the latest
innovation and real insights with an emphasis on
data from local sources as much as possible."
On
the flip side of the coin, there is no denying that
any event held in Dubai is going to have an international
flair. The magnificent metropolis in an
attraction in its own right and as such is a key
ingredient in DDD's success story. "Without
question," Munir agreed. "In fact, one of
the funniest comments we got last year was “DDD is
the only conference where you can bump into a
domainer from Kuwait, a registry from Africa and
a cloud provider from India — all in the
same minute!”
Domain
Days Dubai has skated a claim as the crossroads of
the domain world.
"The
truth is that Domain Days Dubai has become another
GLOBAL event on the industry's calendar,"
Munir said. "While we aim to highlight local
achievement, the industry is mass-market and global
in nature anyway, hence its natural that we are
the meeting point of the global players from all
over the world that love our event due to its
attitude and location - ease of access, amazing
facilities and with the who's who of the
industry on the attendee list year over year."
"For
2025, our attendee and speakers
lists are filled with North American
marketplaces, European, GCC and African registries,
Asian hosting providers, and Web3 naming projects,
all wanting a footprint in the Middle East &
Africa. The beauty of Dubai & UAE in general
is that the world sees it as neutral ground
— and DDD has become the meeting bridge between
East and West in our industry."
Above:
In 2024 Wahid Aziz (CEO, Tasjeel.ae) and Arjun
Sarkar (Senior Director Digital Solutions, Dubai
CommerCity), provided a deep dive into the unique
advantages and potential challenges of setting up in
the UAE
While
everything seems to have fallen into place for DDD, Munir was thrown
an unexpected curve when
ICANN moved
their scheduled Oman meeting to Dublin, Ireland due to
air safety concerns that arose during the air raids in nearby Iran.
For the past two shows Munir was able to make it easy for people to
attend nearby ICANN meetings that were close to his own dates for DDD.
That helped boost attendance the first two years but won't be in play
this year. Still, it appears likely that DDD will set another
attendance record, especially since the original threat
dissipated several months ago.
"This
is a great observation," Munir said. "For two years we
benefited from the ICANN adjacency effect - this year too, we
were extremely happy to have two events scheduled back to back in our
neighborhood again. It's always our policy to ensure efficient,
economic and convenient travel for all our attendees so they can
attend two events in a row and return back to business instead of
having a large gap in between. Now, while Dublin is just 7 hours away
with one of the four daily direct flights from the UAE, I think
this year we’re going to prove that Domain Days Dubai ALWAYS
stood on its own legs. People aren’t coming because of adjacent events
anymore - they’re coming because our event has gained its reputation
as being one of the most important events for global players
to network and also do new business with the MEA market as
a bonus!"
Munir
added, "We are
indeed on track to break our previous record. This year, we
already have a record number of sponsors, speakers and we will soon
surpass our last year's attendance benchmark! Moreover, for those who
doubt it, the event is profitable from its very first inception
and our revenue and margin is growing very healthy YoY. What
started out to be a personal investment as a way to give back to the
industry turned into another profitable venture and and we are open to
partnerships and serious talks with investors to scale the event even
further!"
We'll
close with a note on what quickly became a signature attraction
for Domain Days Dubai -a wildly popular, show closing night time yacht
cruise along the Dubai waterfront with the city's spectacular
skyline providing a stunning backdrop. Of all of the domain world’s
conferences, we aren't aware of any that have the advantage of leaving
such a lasting final impression on attendees. Space for the VIP
event is always limited and they can only make one boat so big, so we
wonder how seats will be allotted this year.
Above:
A view from the bridge of the mega yacht that
took 2024 DDD attendees on a tour of Dubai's
stunning waterfront. Below: Along the way,
guests enjoyed a great meal in the yacht's
spectacular dining room.
"This
is indeed our grand-finale as we love to call
it," Munir said. "What started with a risky
investment of renting a small yacht in 2023 for
60 people turned into an upgraded mega yacht
that can fit 250 people. In Dubai, there are no
limits and the word "impossible"
doesn't exist at the government level! This also
applies to our venture with the yacht. For this year
we have a mega yacht that can fit 250 people and if
needed, we can upgrade to one that can fit 500
people! This way, we never have to worry about
our allocations. Each VIP ticket holder is entitled
a wrist-band to this 4 hours, all inclusive
experience which includes a DJ and free flow of food
and premium beverages with the best Dubai
skyline as the backdrop!"
...on
that note, we'll say Bon Voyage! and
re-connect with Munir when Domain Days Dubai 2025
concludes so we can bring you all of the photos and
highlights from this unique event.
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