Arabian Travel Market, the leading event for the travel industry in the Middle East, returns to the Dubai World Trade Centre today (Monday, 9 May).
The four-day event, which concludes on Thursday, is expected to welcome more than 20,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibiting companies, with 112 countries featured on the show floor ranging from Japan to Jamaica and South Africa to Italy. Industry professionals will have the opportunity to meet and discuss the latest trends from a cross-section of travel, including technology, transport, sustainability, events and business.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME – Arabian Travel Market, said: “Arabian Travel Market 2022 will reiterate the importance of the travel industry as we continue to address the challenges of COVID-19 while also outlining how we drive the industry forward.
“The tourism industry has rebounded incredibly well. As a result, we have seen a clear uptick in participation, with floor space increasing by over 85 per cent compared to the previous year and Middle East exhibitor space eclipsing 2019 levels. We now have the perfect opportunity to hear from industry professionals on the latest trends helping the industry recover and flourish in many instances.”
In line with this year’s theme of ‘The future of international travel and tourism’, ATM 2022 will unveil new technology that will eliminate the need for business cards and allow exhibitors and visitors to share details, brochures and marketing material via innovative scanners and badges.
Further underscoring the technology focus is the revamped and rebranded ATM Travel Tech event, previously called Travel Forward. A host of exciting sessions will take place, including the vision for the NEOM and its strategy for creating memorable experiences by Andrew McEvoy, Managing Director of Tourism, NEOM. Elsewhere on the agenda, Zeina Dagher, CEO Emaar Entertainment, will look at the future of visitor attractions, traveller trends, and what’s next in distribution, attraction tech and the guest experience.
The inaugural ATM Draper-Aladdin Start-up Competition, which was launched earlier this year, will see 15 travel, tourism and hospitality start-ups pitch for US$500,000 of funding and potentially a further US$500,000 of investment as part of the hit TV show, Meet the Drapers.
Making their debut at the live show, [email protected] forum and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) will focus on current and future trends for tour operators and attractions. ATM will also include in-depth buyer forums dedicated to India and Saudi Arabia, live interviews with aviation and hospitality experts and will feature the return of ILTM Arabia with its focus on the lucrative luxury travel market.
Capitalising on the growth of regional tourism investment, the ITIC-ATM Middle East Summit – hosted jointly by ATM and the International Tourism Investment Conference (ITIC) – will spotlight access to project finance in the post-Covid era and include a high-profile ministerial session.
Building on the success of ATM’s hybrid approach during the global pandemic, this year’s in-person event will be followed by the third instalment of ATM Virtual, which will take place from Tuesday, 17 to Wednesday, 18 May 2022.
ATM 2022 is held in conjunction with Dubai World Trade Centre and its strategic partners include Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as the Destination Partner, Emirates as the Official Airline Partner and Emaar Hospitality Group as the Official Hotel Partner.