Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017, which takes place in Dubai World Trade Centre from April 24-27, is set to be the biggest in the event’s 24-year history.
More than 30,000 visitors are expected to attend the four-day show, with over 2,800 exhibiting companies, forcing organizer Reed Travel Exhibitions to open up an additional hall this year to cope with the increased demand.
Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: “The show has experienced phenomenal growth of over 70% since 2012 and this year already looks like it’s going to break all previous records. We have more than 100 new exhibitors signed up and 65 country pavilions, while we expect representation from 140 countries over the course of the event.
“Clearly Expo2020 is driving growth in Dubai as the emirate aims to complete 160,000 hotel rooms in time to welcome an additional five million visitors over the course of the event. However, the GCC countries as a whole are looking towards tourism as a way of diversifying their economies away from their reliance on hydrocarbon receipts.
“And throughout the wider MENA region, rising youth unemployment rates are driving governments to invest in tourism which is not just a labour-intensive sector, it generates billions in foreign currency earnings.”
The official show theme for ATM 2017 is experiential travel, taking in the adventure, culture, heritage, wellness & spa, sport, theme park, halal and cruise tourism segments, which are currently trending globally. This has been integrated across all show verticals and many activities, including focused seminars and roundtable events.
“Today’s travelers are seeking more than amenities and creature comforts; more than a sight-seeing tour and a picture beside a famous landmark. The increasing trend is for an immersive style of tourism, which encompasses different areas of local life – culinary, culture, history, shopping, nature, sports, halal, theme parks, wellness and spa, medical tourism and extreme luxury – and can be the basis for a holistic travel experience, by connecting with a place rather than just visiting it,” said Press.
“In this respect, the Middle East has a rich tapestry of offerings, from overnight stays in a stone house in remote Omani villages to a wander around the authentic and labyrinthine Souq Waqif in Doha or alternatively for foodies, a tour of Old Dubai, in search of wholesome local street delicacies.”
The opening session of this year’s event will look at the role Expo2020 plays in delivering the UAE Government’s long-term vision for economic diversification. Now just three years away, high level stakeholders, including Marjan Faraidooni, VP Legacy, Impact & Development, Expo2020; Issam Kazim, CEO of DTCM; Anita Mehra, SVP Communications and Reputation, Dubai Airports; and Deidre Wells OBE, CEO, UKinbound, will take part in a panel discussion about the upcoming event.
The UNWTO & ATM Ministerial Forum, entitled ‘Fostering the contribution of tourism to sustainable economic growth and diversification in the MENA region’, will see 20 Ministers in attendance. And ILTM Arabia will play host to one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments between suppliers of luxury products and destinations from around the world to an audience of high net worth individuals.
Marketing to experiential travellers will be an integral part of the ATM Travel Tech seminar programme. Press said: “The industry as a whole is embracing technology like never before, to compete in a digital market place where accessibility and speed are critical to the demands of today’s tech-savvy travelers.”
New this year, the inaugural Halal Travel Summit, taking place on the Global Stage, will showcase leading Muslim travel industry experts including Rafi-uddin Shikoh, CEO of DinarStandard and Faeez Fadhlillah, CEO of Salam Standard & Tripfez, who will discuss halal destination strategies and how to sell halal travel.
Other popular features returning to the show repertoire this year include the Leaders Breakfast, Wellness and Spa Lounge (which has grown by 40% and now includes 35 international suppliers and 35 Middle East specialist buyers), Travel Agent Academy, Buyers Club and the Bloggers Speed Networking events. There will also be a series of seminars taking place in the Showcase Theatre.
The ATM Best Stand Awards are back for a third year and will see a line-up of top judges and visitors to the annual industry event acknowledge the design, creativity and positioning of exhibiting companies’ physical presence at the annual showcase.
ATM – considered by many industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, witnessed a year-on-year visitor attendance increase of 9% to over 28,500 in 2016, with 2,785 exhibiting companies, signing business deals worth more than US$ 2.5 billion over four days.
該展覽在阿聯酋副總統兼總理謝赫·穆罕默德·本·拉希德·阿勒馬克圖姆殿下的主持下舉行，現已發展成為該地區同類展覽中最大的展覽，也是世界上最大的展覽之一。
For more information on Arabian Travel Market 2017, please log on to arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.
阿拉伯旅遊市場（ATM）是中東地區針對入境和出境旅遊專業人士舉辦的領先的國際旅行和旅遊盛會。 2016年的ATM吸引了近40,000名行業專業人士，在四天內達成了價值2.5億美元的交易。
第24屆ATM將在迪拜世界貿易中心的2,500個展廳內展示12多家參展公司，這使其成為24年來最大的ATM。
Arabian Travel Market is part of Reed Travel Exhibition’s World Travel Market events, which also includes WTM London, WTM Latin America and WTM Africa.
World Travel Market Events comprise of the leading leisure travel events in the world; World Travel Market London, WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, WTM Africa in Cape Town and Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
WTM產品組合的活動由全球旅行和旅遊業的高級管理人員參加，以開展業務交易並發現最新的研究，見識和見解。
WTM由世界領先的活動組織者Reed Exhibitions擁有。
eTN是ATM的媒體合作夥伴。
