This year's GITEX has attracted the highest ever number of senior executives, organizers of the show claimed yesterday.

Ahead of the release of preliminary visitor figures, show organizers Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) said early visitor numbers indicated a significant increase in the number of senior executives attending the event.

DWTC attributed the increase in part to the reorganization of the show this year into three separate sections.

"The success of this year's GITEX Technology Week has been driven by the strategic reformatting of the event, which caters to the needs of the high number of senior decision makers attending the show," Helal Saeed Al Marri, director general of DWTC said.

Al Marri added that there had been a particularly large number of senior level attendees from Saudi Arabia at the show. DWTC has introduced a number of initiatives this year aimed at drawing high level executives to the exhibition including its Global Conference programme and Priority Club.

"We've been thoroughly impressed by the show so far, and we've able to network with a higher number of quality decision makers than ever before," the DWTC quoted Oracle's senior vice president Oracle Middle East and Africa Husam Dajani as saying.

The five-day annual show, which ends today, is expected to garner more than 130,000 visitors in total, on a par with attendance last year.