Another Vision 2030 victory this November as Saudi Arabia welcomes the international firefighting community to celebrate courage, competition, innovation and public service.
By Abeer Abdalla, Managing Editor, The Saudi Times
When the World Firefighters Games arrive in Saudi Arabia this November, the most consequential action may unfold at Dhahran Expo, where emergency-service professionals will meet companies shaping occupational health, safety and human performance. The 16th World Firefighters Games will take place from 5 to 13 November 2026, bringing more than 7,000 athletes and participants from over 70 countries to compete across 56 sporting disciplines. Organizers expect the largest edition in the Games’ history, with an estimated 200,000 spectators attending across the nine-day program.
At the center of its professional and commercial offering will be the Fire & Safety Expo and the Health & Wellness Expo, taking place from 6 to 8 November at Dhahran Expo in Al Khobar. IEG Arabia, a subsidiary of IEG Middle East and the organizer behind Dubai Active and Dubai Muscle Show, has been appointed to deliver both exhibitions.
By bringing together emergency-service professionals, manufacturers, health specialists, fitness experts and technology companies, the Expo can become a marketplace for ideas as much as products. Its focus will extend across occupational safety, firefighter-specific training, functional fitness, nutrition, recovery, health technology and performance. That breadth matters because firefighting is a high-performance profession in which strength, judgment, resilience and recovery can determine whether people return home safely. Improvements in protective equipment, training, health monitoring and rehabilitation therefore have consequences far beyond the exhibition floor.
For Saudi Arabia, the event arrives at an important point in its economic transformation. Vision 2030 has placed tourism, sport, wellness and international events at the center of the Kingdom’s diversification agenda. These sectors attract visitors, but their greater value lies in the ecosystems they create around aviation, hospitality, logistics, technology, media, retail and professional services.
The numbers indicate the scale of that shift. Saudi Arabia recorded 123 million domestic and international tourist visits in 2025, generating approximately $81 billion in tourism spending. The Kingdom’s airports handled 140.9 million passengers during the same year, an increase of 9.6 percent from 2024. Meanwhile, the Saudi economy grew by 4.5 percent, with non-oil activity expanding by 4.9 percent and non-oil sectors accounting for 55 percent of gross domestic product.
Within that picture, a gathering expected to attract 200,000 spectators is not merely a sporting occasion. It is part of a larger effort to turn international events into recurring economic activity, private-sector opportunity and global connectivity. Saudi Arabia’s investment in Expo 2030 Riyadh makes that strategy explicit. The development is projected to welcome more than 40 million visits, contribute nearly $70 billion to Saudi GDP and generate approximately 171,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction. The World Firefighters Games Expo is smaller, but follows the same principle: convene the world, create commercial exchange and retain useful knowledge after visitors leave.
Its location is equally significant. Staging the Expo in Al Khobar expands the Kingdom’s major-events story beyond Riyadh and Jeddah, while positioning the Eastern Province as a gateway for international business. With its concentration of energy, industrial and technical expertise, the region is a natural setting for conversations around safety, workforce wellbeing and emergency preparedness. The wellness component also aligns with changes inside Saudi society. In 2025, 59.1 percent of adults in the Kingdom reported undertaking at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week. The figure reflects progress in building a more active population. The Expo can extend that conversation from personal fitness into occupational health, prevention, resilience and long-term quality of life.
“We are honored to have been selected to organize the Fire & Safety Expo and the Health & Wellness Expo at the World Firefighters Games 2026. This is one of the most important global gatherings for the firefighting community and a platform that perfectly aligns with our expertise in delivering world-class health, fitness and wellness exhibitions.
“As Saudi Arabia continues to invest in becoming a global destination for major events, tourism and international business under Vision 2030, the World Firefighters Games Expo represents far more than an exhibition. It will create a platform where global innovators, manufacturers, emergency service professionals and industry leaders can come together to exchange knowledge, showcase the latest advancements in health, safety and performance, and build meaningful international partnerships. We are proud to play a role in delivering an event that supports the Kingdom’s long-term ambitions while leaving a legacy for the global firefighting community,” said Rachel Chatham, Managing Director, IEG Arabia.
That legacy will be the measure of success. Visitor numbers will demonstrate reach, but the more important outcomes will be the partnerships formed, technologies introduced, training exchanged, and safety practices strengthened. The World Firefighters Games will celebrate extraordinary physical performance. Its Expo can achieve something larger: transforming a global gathering into a practical contribution to healthier workforces, safer communities and a more diversified Saudi economy.
