H World International (HWI) · at DWTC Dubai
CUSTOM DOUBLE-DECK STAND
How Strokes Exhibits delivered a 200+ sqm custom double-deck stand for H World International at Arabian Travel Market 2025 - anchored by a suspended dual-video-screen architecture and built in 72 hours at DWTC Dubai.
About the Client
H World International is the international arm of H World Group — one of the largest hotel groups in the world. As of 31 December 2025, H World Group operated 12,858 hotels with 1,264,419 rooms across 21 countries. HWI carries the German hospitality heritage of Deutsche Hospitality and the Steigenberger legacy into the global growth strategy of one of the most ambitious hotel platforms in the industry, with a brand portfolio that spans Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, Jaz in the City, MAXX by Steigenberger, IntercityHotel, and the wider Deutsche Hospitality family.
WHY ATM 2025 - Arabian Travel Market 2025 attracted 55,000+ travel professionals from 166 countries - a 16% increase on 2024 - alongside 2,800+ exhibitors. For HWI, ATM is the single most consequential commercial platform in the region for owner, partner and operator conversations across the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
HWI arrived at ATM 2025 with
two parallel commercial agendas
The first was anchored in the present - the stand had to mark the anniversary of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, the group’s flagship brand and a name with more than a century of European hospitality heritage behind it. The second was anchored in the future - the stand had to project HWI’s regional growth ambition across the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and host the volume of partner, owner and trade conversations that ATM is engineered for.
The brief to Strokes Exhibits was clear. Deliver a stand that does what a great hotel lobby does - draws people in, frames the brands beautifully, makes the business conversation feel effortless. And do it inside a 200+ sqm footprint, in a hall hosting 2,800 other exhibitors, with the architecture itself doing the work of category leadership before a single conversation begins.
Project Snapshot
| Client | H World International (HWI) — international arm of H World Group |
| Event | Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025 |
| Venue | Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) |
| Stand Size | 200+ m² - custom double-deck |
| Stand Type | Custom double-deck with suspended dual video screens |
| Scope | End-to-end - design, fabrication, installation, AV integration & dismantle |
| Build Time | 72 hours on-site, round-the-clock |
| Brands Showcased | Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, Jaz in the City, MAXX by Steigenberger, IntercityHotel, and the wider Deutsche Hospitality portfolio |
| Anniversary Moment | Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts flagship-brand anniversary celebrated on-stand |
| Contractor | Strokes Exhibits - DWTC-approved, 20+ years in UAE, 45,000 sq ft production facility |
Architecture That Behaves Like a Hotel
The design team solved the brief in one move. Rather than decorating a stand to “look hospitality,” they translated the actual experience of arriving at a premium hotel into three-dimensional exhibition architecture. A VIP rope-line staircase led up to a mezzanine meeting terrace. A cluster of pendant “bubble” chandeliers floated above the upper deck the way they would in a signature European lobby. A curated black-and-white portrait gallery told the heritage story of Steigenberger and the Deutsche Hospitality family at the point of entry. Touchscreen kiosks stood in for a digital concierge. Live greenery softened the steel and glass. Visitors did not walk into an exhibit - they walked into a hotel.
Show-Stopper 01
Suspended Dual Video Screens
The defining architectural move on the project. Two large-format landscape video screens were rigged side by side and suspended above the upper deck — a brand-led overhead canopy visible from anywhere in the hall, running cinematic destination footage, brand stories from across the HWI portfolio, and the Steigenberger anniversary narrative. The dual-screen treatment doubled the visual real estate of the upper fascia and turned the stand into a brand cinema overhead, not just a fascia underneath. In a 2,800-exhibitor hall, that level of vertical visibility is the single most decisive investment a stand can make.
Show-Stopper 02
Custom Double-Deck Architecture with VIP Mezzanine
The stand broke out of the flat exhibition plane and went vertical. A custom double-deck structure effectively doubled the usable footprint - trade-facing on the ground floor, hosted business and a VIP lounge on the mezzanine - and signalled HWI’s scale and investment to every buyer walking the hall. For ATM, where commercial outcomes are measured in meeting capacity, going upwards was the decisive structural move.
Show-Stopper 03
Steigenberger Anniversary Heritage Gallery
Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts is HWI’s anchor brand, and ATM 2025 coincided with a milestone anniversary moment. The design team responded with a curated black-and-white portrait gallery on the ground-floor entry elevation - a hospitality-grade installation that told the legacy story of Steigenberger as architecture, not signage. The gallery functioned as the emotional anchor of the stand and the brand’s heritage credentials, in a hall otherwise dominated by destination marketing.
Feature 04
Multi-Brand Portfolio Fascia
A continuous brand band ran between the two levels, carrying the Deutsche Hospitality portfolio - Steigenberger, Jaz in the City, MAXX by Steigenberger, IntercityHotel, and the wider HWI family - so the entire commercial proposition was visible in a single sweep.
Feature 05
Pendant Chandelier Cluster
A pendant-light chandelier cluster floated above the upper-deck terrace — the architectural cue that signals premium European hospitality in a single visual move. The cluster doubled as the lighting layer of the upper-deck VIP lounge.
Feature 06
VIP Mezzanine Lounge
The mezzanine was laid out as a hosted VIP meeting deck, with soft seating, intimate sightlines, and the acoustic separation that serious owner and partner conversations need during a noisy show. This is where the hosted ATM deals get done.
Custom double-deck stands are the most
technically demanding category of exhibition build.
They require structural engineering sign-off, certified load calculations, rigid sequencing between primary structure and every downstream trade, and flawless on-site safety management. Delivering one at 200+ sqm inside a 72-hour ATM build window - with a fully glazed upper elevation, dual suspended video screens, a commercial-grade VIP staircase, a pendant chandelier installation, multi-brand LED fascias, touchscreen kiosks, and the curated heritage gallery - demanded the kind of coordination that does not exist on smaller single-level projects.
Every trade had to land in the right order - steelwork and deck first, glazing and handrails second, the suspended video-screen rigging third, electrics and AV fourth, joinery and finishes fifth, and the decorative programme, lighting and finishes in the final window before client handover. A single missed hand-off would have cascaded across both levels. ATM’s hall access rules and DWTC’s safety protocols made the sequencing non-negotiable.
Rigging & Truss First
Structural elements, truss, and suspended screen arrays were prioritised in the first window — every downstream trade depended on sign-off here.
Crown-Drum & Carpentry
The bespoke ruby-glass crown-drum centrepiece, carpentry finishes, and the rope pavilions followed in tightly overlapped phases.
AV, LED & Screen Integration
LED and screen integrators, AV technicians, and graphic installers worked in parallel — content-loading and calibration completed in sequence.
Protected Horticulture Window
The 20-tonne live tree installation was scheduled into a protected late-stage window after all dust-generating works were fully closed out.
Moving-Light Programming & Final QC
The moving-light rig was programmed in the final run-up to opening. By show day: clean, calibrated, content-loaded, trading-ready — zero snag list.
For H World International, the stand delivered on every layer of the brief - as a brand landmark, a business platform, a heritage moment, and a regional growth statement.
Defining Hospitality-Sector Presence at ATM 2025
A 200+ sqm custom double-deck stand with a suspended dual-video-screen canopy, visible from across one of the busiest halls of ATM 2025.
Business-Grade VIP Meeting Capacity
The upper mezzanine functioned as a dedicated VIP meeting deck, allowing partner, owner, and trade conversations to run simultaneously without compromising on comfort or privacy - directly engineered for the calibre of conversations that ATM enables across 166 countries of attendance.
Steigenberger Anniversary Celebrated in Architecture
The heritage gallery, the chandelier cluster, the gold-rope staircase, and the dual-screen canopy combined to mark Steigenberger’s anniversary as architecture rather than as a panel - a brand moment that earned its place on the floor.
Multi-Brand Portfolio Presentation
Steigenberger, Jaz in the City, MAXX by Steigenberger, IntercityHotel and the wider HWI family were presented in a single coherent architectural statement - not a collage of logos.
"Our partnership with Strokes Exhibits goes beyond collaboration—they have become an integral part of HWI's success at ATM. This seamless teamwork fosters a shared vision that consistently delivers outstanding results. Building on our positive experience, we returned to Strokes Exhibits for their expertise and commitment to teamwork. This repeat business underscores the immense value Strokes Exhibits brings to the table. This successful partnership shines a light on the future. With teamwork at its core, the possibilities for even more innovative and creative projects are endless!"
Mr. Siegfried Nierhaus — Vice President & Head of Mena Region
One roof. Every trade.
20+ years at DWTC.
Strokes Exhibits is a Dubai-based custom exhibition stand contractor with over 20 years of experience delivering at Dubai World Trade Centre, ADNEC Abu Dhabi, Expo City Dubai, and international pavilions. A 45,000 sq ft in-house production facility covers design, 3D visualisation, joinery, metalwork, printing, AV, electrics, horticulture, and on-site project management - which is how double-deck builds of this complexity land on time, on brand, and on budget.
Trusted by clients including Kaeser, Samsung, and Elopak, and a member of IAEE and IFES, Strokes builds custom, modular, double-deck, and shell scheme stands across the UAE and beyond.
IAEE & IFES Member
International trade association memberships
DWTC Approved
Approved contractor at Dubai World Trade Centre
In-House Fabrication
Joinery, metalwork, printing, AV & electrics
Trusted Clients
Kaeser, Samsung, Elopak & many more