Before the Middle East war, the Gulf had positioned itself to become one of the world’s busiest hubs for conferences, exhibitions, and high‑level events.
The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have each worked hard to be seen as the crossroads for business, politics and innovation, hosting global sporting events from Formula 1 to high-stakes boxing championships and top-tier golf tournaments.
The Gulf has also welcomed global CEOs, home to major business gatherings like the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Web Summit in Doha and Abu Dhabi Finance Week.
A delegate arrives at the King Abdulaziz Conference Centre in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh to attend the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum.
Fayez Nureldine | Afp | Getty Images
Now, as war grounds flights and threatens to destabilize the region’s carefully built future, events from cultural to crypto have been quietly rescheduled.
Several high‑profile gatherings across the Middle East scheduled from March to May are being postponed, rescheduled or placed under review as organizers assess the impact of the current regional conflict, underscoring how geopolitical tensions are disrupting the Gulf’s once‑packed conference calendar.
Formula 1 announced earlier this month that “due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East region, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April.”
A number of flagship gatherings scheduled for April and May still remain in limbo, with several choosing a modified version of what is normally a massive global event.
Art Dubai, the city’s flagship cultural event featuring 120 galleries from over 40 countries each year, told CNBC that the event would go ahead in an “adapted format at Madinat Jumeirah” from May 14–17.
“There remains a clear sense that maintaining the platform that Art Dubai represents is important for the wider cultural ecosystem,” the statement added.
Several other major events have already been pushed back. Arabian Travel Market, a massive travel industry conference held at the World Trade Center in Dubai, originally scheduled for May, has been moved to August, with organizers citing “recent developments in the region.”
The World Economic Forum announced it would be rescheduling the Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting, which had been planned for April 2026 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. “This reflects a commitment to convening the meeting under conditions that ensure its full strategic impact,” the World Economic Forum said Tuesday.
The Arab Media Forum, scheduled for April, has been postponed to September 2026, with organizers saying the decision was taken to ensure the event meets its scale and ambition.
Smoke rises after Iran carried out a missile strike on the main headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Manama in retaliation against US-Israeli attacks, in Bahrain February 28, 2026.
Stringer | Anadolu | Getty Images
TOKEN2049 Dubai, one of the world’s largest crypto conferences which last year counted Eric Trump, the CEO of Tether, and the Founder of Binance among its attendees has been deferred by a full year to April 2027, as organisers said they wanted to guarantee the ability for the global crypto community to gather “at the scale and quality that define TOKEN2049,” while reiterating their long‑term commitment to Dubai.
Abu Dhabi Business Week, initially set for April 6-9, has also been postponed, with a new date yet to be announced. Organizers said the decision was made to ensure “the most suitable environment for the success of this exceptional economic event” and meaningful participation from international stakeholders.
Together, the shifts highlight the growing operational uncertainty facing the Middle East’s events sector, which has become a core pillar of the Gulf’s non‑oil economies, as organizers balance security concerns with the region’s ambitions to remain a global convening hub.
Travelers to and from the Gulf’s major aviation hubs have faced thousands of flight cancellations and rerouting as airlines reassess operations through the region’s increasingly volatile airspace.
Impact to ‘the Davos of Energy’ conference
The CEOs of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco opted to stay back and not attend the so-called ‘Davos of energy,’ CERAWeek conference in Houston, due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Both ADNOC and Aramco facilities have been targeted by Iranian drones and missiles in recent weeks, and an industry source close to CEO Amin Nasser told CNBC that Nasser’s priority was to “be there for his teams spread throughout the Kingdom.”
ADNOC’s CEO Sultan Al Jaber also prioritized dealing with the crisis over an energy conference, attended by big oil and the U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Sultan, in a video speech to the conference, said Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz amounted to “economic terrorism,” threatening global energy supply.
