A standard 85 × 200 cm roll-up banner printed in Dubai typically costs AED 150–350 including the stand and carry bag, with same-day or next-day turnaround from a print shop like ours in Al Karama. Larger exhibition pieces — fabric pop-up backdrops, modular stands, counters — run from AED 1,500 to AED 15,000 and more, depending on size, material and whether the hardware is reused.
Dubai's event calendar is relentless — GITEX, Gulfood, Arab Health, Big 5, Cityscape, plus hundreds of smaller exhibitions and mall activations. Here is what to order, what it costs, how to prepare artwork, and how to avoid the mistakes we see every season.
Which type of display do you actually need?
Match the hardware to the job:
- Roll-up (pull-up) banner, 85 × 200 cm. The workhorse. One person sets it up in thirty seconds. Use for reception areas, shop entrances, seminar rooms, and as the side pieces of a small stand. Also available at 60, 100, 120 and 150 cm wide.
- Double-sided roll-up. For walkways where people approach from both directions. Roughly 1.6 times the price of single-sided.
- Fabric pop-up backdrop, 3 × 2.3 m straight or curved. A collapsible aluminium frame with a tension-fabric print. Packs into a wheeled case, sets up in ten minutes, and gives a full branded wall. The standard choice for a 3 × 3 m shell-scheme stand.
- Modular or custom stand. For 6 × 3 m and larger spaces, with counters, shelving, lighting and screens. Built once, reconfigured per show.
- Promotional counter and flags. A branded counter for demos and lead capture; feather or teardrop flags for outdoor activations.
For a first trade show, a backdrop, two roll-ups and a counter covers a 3 × 3 m stand well and typically lands at AED 3,500–7,000 for everything.
What do roll-up banners and stands cost in Dubai?
Typical ranges in the UAE market, printed and finished:
- Standard roll-up 85 × 200 cm, economy aluminium base: AED 150–250.
- Premium roll-up with wide chrome base and better film: AED 300–450.
- Replacement graphic only (reusing your stand): AED 80–150.
- Fabric pop-up backdrop 3 × 2.3 m with case: AED 1,500–3,000.
- Backdrop graphic only for existing frame: AED 600–1,200.
- Promotional counter: AED 500–1,200.
- Modular 6 × 3 m stand with lighting and counter: AED 8,000–25,000 depending on specification.
Rush within 24 hours is usually possible for roll-ups and carries a fee; backdrops need two to three working days. Order a week ahead and you avoid both the fee and the stress. Our print and signage team prints in-house, which is why we can turn roll-ups around the same day.
Which material should you choose?
Roll-up graphics are printed on either PVC blockout film — matte, opaque, no light bleeding through, slightly stiffer, the standard — or polyester fabric, which is lighter, does not curl at the edges and looks more premium but costs more. For an event under bright hall lighting, matte blockout avoids glare. For a hotel lobby or clinic, fabric looks better close up.
Backdrops are almost always tension fabric with dye-sublimation printing: the ink is in the fibre, so it does not crack when folded and can be washed. Ask for a matte finish; glossy fabric reflects camera flashes in every photo taken at your stand.
Hardware matters more than people think. The cheapest bases warp after one hot summer in a car boot. If you will use the banner more than twice, spend the extra AED 100 on a proper base.
How should you prepare the artwork?
Our artwork checklist for roll-ups:
- Set the file at full size, 85 × 200 cm, plus 10 cm at the bottom that will be hidden inside the base. Put nothing important in that bottom strip.
- Resolution of 100–150 dpi at full size is enough. Export as PDF with fonts outlined or embedded.
- Use CMYK, and specify Pantone references for brand colours so we can match them. Screen RGB blues and oranges shift noticeably in print — see choosing brand colours that work on screen and in print.
- Put the logo and headline in the top third. That is the only part visible above a crowd.
- One message, one call to action, one QR code or WhatsApp number. Readable from three metres means body text no smaller than 60 pt.
- Arabic and English together if your audience is mixed; keep Arabic on the right and give it equal weight.
If you do not have artwork, allow two to three days for design. Our brand identity team designs event collateral to match your existing identity rather than reinventing it for one show.
What mistakes waste money at Dubai exhibitions?
Every season we see the same five:
- Too much text. A banner is a headline, not a brochure. Visitors give it two seconds.
- No way to follow up. No QR code, no WhatsApp number, no lead form. A stand that generates conversations but no contacts has produced nothing.
- Ordering the night before. Rush fees, no time for a proof, and typos that live on for the whole show.
- Ignoring venue rules. DWTC and other venues have height limits, fire-rating requirements and set-up windows. Check the exhibitor manual, and confirm current rules with the venue.
- Buying new hardware every time. Keep the frames and bases; reprint the graphics. A good backdrop frame lasts years.
Done properly, a stand is a one-time hardware cost and a modest reprint per event — which is exactly how it should sit in your marketing budget.