165 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions, BIE have voted in favour of Dubai to be the host city for the World Trade Fair or the EXPO 2020. This was decided after the third and the final round of voting in Paris last night. Four cities including Dubai in UAE, Yekaterinbergh in Russia, Sao Paulo in Brazil and Izmir in Turkey were competing to host the prestigious event. The decision has been welcomed across Dubai and the gulf region. It is celebration time in the city. The Dubai Government has declared a national holiday today and all the schools and colleges have been closed. The theme of Dubai for the EXPO 2020 is Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. It is the first world trade fair in the Middle East. The city has run a campaign for over two years to win the EXPO 2020 and created a lot of infrastructure to support its bid. The year long event is considered a major event since the award of the EXPO brings home more number of visitors and adds to the trade, economy, tourism and hospitality sectors in the host city. The focus is on attracting 25 million people and through word of mouth may be 100 million over three to four years.This will give a boost to the local economy, trade, realty, tourism and retail sectors in the long run. Since its inception in London in 1851, more than a billion people have visited the World EXPO. The last one, Expo 2012, was held in Yeosu, South Korea.