Dubai is getting its first niche perfumery trade fair. Messe Frankfurt Middle East, the organizer behind Beauty World Dubai, will launch Notes Dubai on Jan. 21 to 23 at the Dubai Mall Exhibition Center.

The fair targets niche, independent and artistic fragrance. It is the sister event to Notes Shanghai, the organizer's niche perfumery platform in Asia.

The organizer revealed "Genesis" as the first edition's theme on Tuesday in Cannes, during TFWA World Exhibition & Conference.

Notes Dubai is positioned as a curated alternative to a conventional trade show. Its stated job is to connect heritage houses and independent perfumers with retailers, distributors and buyers in a market where, by the organizer's count, fragrance makes up 49 percent of luxury beauty spending.

"Dubai has the consumers, the houses, the retail and the taste of one of the world's great fragrance cities, but never a niche perfumery show to call its own, until now," said Ravi Ramchandani, event director of both Notes Dubai and Beauty World Dubai.

The "Genesis" theme centers on how a fragrance comes into being — from an idea or memory to raw materials, first accords and the moment it is first worn. The organizer said the theme also mirrors the fair's own start.

Ramchandani argued the fair fills a gap for both regional and international players. "Regional brands have long competed on the world stage; what they haven't had is a platform of that same caliber on home ground. For international houses, Notes Dubai opens the door to one of the highest-spending beauty markets anywhere, and an audience as fragrance-literate as any in the world," he said.

The launch lands as Gulf fragrance culture goes global. Arabian fragrances — the oud-, musk- and amber-heavy perfumes rooted in Gulf tradition — reached $4.9 billion in retail sales worldwide in 2025, according to Euromonitor International. That figure stood at $2.8 billion in 2023.

About $2.9 billion of those sales were made in the GCC, with Saudi Arabia accounting for the majority. Online sales of the category grew 50 percent last year, led by brands such as Lattafa.

Notes Dubai is betting the region's next wave of perfumers will want to be discovered on home ground.