This years’ ATM spot light theme on Family Travel focused on Travel Technology, Business Travel, Luxury and Wellness.
Organized by Reed Travel Exhibition – a part of the World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio, the 22nd Arabian Travel Market, Dubai made the grand opening – mid day at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. This years’ ATM spot light theme on Family Travel focused on Travel Technology, Business Travel, Luxury and Wellness.
Over 400 confirmed exhibitors and more than 23,000 visitors visited the largest travel trade event in the Middle East. The show has grown by 7% since 2014, and added an extra hall for 2015, with 86 countries represented, 64 national pavilions, and a total of 113 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut
Travel and tourism professionals from around the globe attended the 4-Day event, to explore the opportunity to unlock business potential within the Middle East’s inbound and outbound markets. The UNWTO Ministerial Forum brought together Ministers of Tourism from across the globe. The discussion focused on how to advance intra-regional tourism and was extremely well received.
The world’s milestone travel event was lined up by expert speakers in the Industry to deliver the forum at Seminar Theater, highlighting the regional tourism industry’s most important issues, including major events like Expo 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, coming up in the UAE and Qatar.
(Photo: Saifuddin Ismailji/ ATM (RTE).
Also in the lime light, Seminars were held on topics of Aviation, Family Travel, Travel Technology, Business Travel (by Euromonitor International) and Responsible Tourism.
Seminar session was held on “How Gulf destinations can boost their appeal to the lucrative family tourism market”.
Highlights:
- Exhibiting companies expected: over 2,700 expected
- Number of countries represented (booked exhibitors only): 86
- Visitors expected: over 23,000
- Number of countries represented (pre-registered visitors only): 152
- New exhibitors: 113
- Country pavilions: 64 (please see list below)
Areas of Floor Space Growth:
- Overall Show Growth in Meterage: 7%
- Europe: 12.5%
- Travel Tech Show at ATM: 24%
- UAE: 6%
- Hotels: 4.5%
Other Highlights include
- Over 40 wide-ranging seminar and tech theatre sessions – topics covering family travel, luxury tourism trends, aviation, mobile technology trends, wellness tourism, business, adventure, budget etc.
- UNWTO- will bring together Ministers of Tourism and industry leaders in the MENA region to discuss how to advance intra-regional tourism and seize the growing opportunities emerging for increased cooperation.
- Exhibition Trails – helping visitors to navigate the show floor, trails include: family travel, budget travel, business travel, health & wellbeing, shopping, transportation, sports travel, cultural and heritage and adventure travel.
- ATM app – The official app for the WTM Portfolio. With the app you can arrange your visit to each WTM Portfolio event with all relevant information at your fingertips. App features include: Access to the complete exhibitor listings, Full events, conference and seminar schedule, Manage your agenda and diary of meeting appointments, Lists of seminar speakers, Interactive floor plan and maps, Useful information about the venue and opening hours.
- Data Scanner – Exhibitors can rent an iPod loaded with an app which can scan exhibitor and visitor badges to make contact details more accurate and follow-ups more convenient.
Back This Year
- ILTM@ATM (Luxury travel buyers meet luxury suppliers in exclusive pre-scheduled appointments 5-6 May). Also the UNWTO Ministerial Forum, where ministers of Tourism will be joined by industry leaders representing the different travel and hospitality sub-sectors with an agenda to discuss how to advance intra-regional tourism and seize the growing opportunities emerging for increased co-operation.
New Launch
- As ATM’s fastest growing sector, travel technology is being brought together into a single event as The Travel Tech Show at ATM, introduced in response to visitor interest. The show will feature up to 50 exhibitors across the travel technology sector plus the RateGain Travel Technology Theatre and Visa Exhibitor Showcase Theatre will host almost 30 sessions (a 40% increase on 2014).
New to the Show:
- Extra Hall
- Spotlight on Family Travel – annual theme for 2015
- Travel Tech Show at ATM
- Captains of Industry Lunch (Wed 6 May)
- Best Stand Awards
- Buyers Club Speed Networking (Thurs 7 May in Buyers Club Lounge)
Before the grand opening, the official pre-opening of the ATM press conference (3rd May), was held at the Address Downtown Hotel, Reed Travel Exhibitions presented a show update. Addressed by key players of the milestone travel Event, representatives included among others: Nadège Noblet-Segers, Exhibition Manager, Arabian Travel Market; Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market and World Travel Market; Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, DSVP Commercial Operations Centre, Emirates Airline; Issam Abdul Rahim Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, DCTCM; Marc Bennett, Senior Vice President, International Operations, DCTCM.
“The show has grown by 7% since 2014, and added an extra hall for 2015, with 86 countries represented, 64 national pavilions, and a total of 113 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut. As we count down to Expo 2020 and a target of at least 20 million visitors annually as part of Tourism Vision 2020, and a forecasted figure of 25 million visitors for the six-month-long expo, it’s impossible not to be swept up in the momentum of tourism development, both right here in the UAE and across the region. Despite the ongoing challenges facing neighboring economies, the Middle East continues to break new ground when it comes to infrastructure expansion, government and private sector initiatives, and visitor engagement,” said Nadege Noblet-Segers, Exhibition Manager, Arabian Travel Market.
According to Nadege Noblet-Segers, Exhibition Manager, Arabian Travel Market, “sustainable development is the foundation for the successful long-term growth of the tourism economy and this year’s showcase will incorporate a number of major features that directly address current industry issues. These include the return of the UNWTO Ministerial Forum, at which MENA region portfolio ministers and industry leaders will discuss the advancement of intra-regional tourism. We have also launched the Travel Tech Show at ATM which is accompanied by our annual Technology Theatre seminar series, where global experts in their field will share the latest hi-tech developments impacting our industry. We also have our dedicated spotlight theme for 2015 – family travel, which represents a significant opportunity for the global tourism industry to capitalize on the trend towards multi-generational travel, the travelling future of Gen Y and, specifically in this part of the world, the increase in high-net worth families seeking luxury experiences.”
ATM is part of the World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio, the world’s leading portfolio of leisure travel events, which facilitates US$7 bn in industry deals. WTM Portfolio events including WTM London, WTM South Africa, WTM Latin America, Arabian Travel Market.
Photo caption: 22nd Arabian Travel Market, Dubai official Press Conference (Photo: Saifuddin Ismailji/ ATM (RTE).
