Destination Arabia beckons

The 2016 Arabian Travel Market’s (ATM) overarching theme will be mid-market travel as it hosts more than 2,800 exhibitors and more than 26,000 visitors at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE, from April 25 to 28.

The event will also continue to focus on different verticals from spa and wellness to cruise tourism, as well as reprise its informative technology theatre series of seminars, workshops and presentations, says Simon Press, senior exhibition director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, the show’s organiser.

There is demand for new midscale projects right across the region. This has been identified as both an underdeveloped and potential growth area for the region, driven by demand from the growing middle class markets such as China, India and Africa combined with budget Generation Y travellers and young families, Press tells TTN.

Against this backdrop, the ATM continues to innovate and add new features.

'We have announced the addition of a further hall for this year, which follows on from our success in 2015 where we witnessed a year-on-year visitor attendance increase of 15 per cent to over 26,000, with exhibiting companies increasing by 5 per cent to 2,873,' says Press.

Over 100 exhibitors are making their ATM debut, and there are over 60 country pavilions onsite this year.

New to ATM this year is the ATM Global Stage, located in Hall 8, which will host a plethora of high-level speakers covering a range of topics in the 200-plus attendee theatre.

There’s also a Wellness & Spa Lounge, a dedicated space with 25 exhibitors created to connect Middle East wellness and spa buyers with international suppliers in a series of exclusive pre-scheduled appointments on April 26 and 27. A series of seminars also take place within the Showcase Theatre.

Another highlight is a new networking feature for exhibitors and bloggers. The ATM Bloggers’ Speed Networking provides an opportunity for up to 40 travel bloggers to take part in mini-meetings with exhibitors to explore ways to work together in the future. Bloggers are grouped by geography and by travel sector such as luxury travel, family travel, food and more. The event is taking place on April 28 from 10 am to 11 am in Hall 8.

Also, a Travel Agent Academy will take place on the final day of the show.

'Keeping ATM fresh and exciting is critical to our success, as is research. We conduct annual analyses through partner feedback requests, the annual GCC roadshow series and one-on-ones etc., which are absolutely fundamental to our strategic development and to shaping plans for the year ahead that meet the needs of both our visitors and exhibitors,' he says.

The main objective for the majority of exhibitors and visitors at ATM is to conduct business with people they would not usually get the opportunity to meet. Bringing together industry professionals from every region and sector, ATM is a truly international event serving the Middle East travel industry, Press points out, adding that it is also one of the industry’s leading knowledge platforms, providing global trends, innovations, research, insight and topical debate.

The growth of ATM in the last two decades reflects the fast-paced development of tourism in the region, as well as globally. Tourism supports 284 million jobs across the globe, and generates around $7.8 trillion to the economy, marking it apart as one of the most important drivers of economic growth and a major contributor to achieving sustainable overall growth.

With its high-profile hosting of Expo 2020 on the horizon, investment into infrastructure, activities and accommodation options are very much front of mind for the tourism and hospitality sector, not only for Dubai but for destinations across the region, he says.

The industry continues to take major strides towards improving the physical and digital infrastructure, and streamlining travel and tourism efficiencies through technological innovation and implementation, as well as people empowerment and development.

FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY

On the key trends in the travel industry that will impact the sector in the next few years, he says technology will continue to impact the industry as one moves to an increasingly digital marketplace and, as mentioned previously, growth and opportunities in the mid-market sector will shape the new tourism landscape in the region.

On the luxury market he says it is still an extremely important segment, particularly within the Mena region.

'Last year we highlighted a YouGov survey which outlined residents choosing to stay in four or five-star hotels, and 20 per cent flying first or business class. Family travel budgets are some of the most generous, with 17 per cent of residents spending between $3,000-5,000; 9 per cent spending $5,000-7,000; and 14 per cent spending over $7,000 and is therefore still an important part of the show.'

The same YouGov survey also highlighted the words judged to best describe luxury travel as differentiation (33 per cent), discovery (31 per cent) and exclusivity (27 per cent).

At the show there are some 606 exhibitors within this sector while a seminar will look at the changing landscape and evolution of luxury travel.

On how ATM will provide a marketing platform for new carriers and new destinations, he says there are numerous ways for first-time exhibitors, and not just carriers/destinations to maximise on their ROI (return on investment) from a marketing perspective. New exhibitors are encouraged to complete their profile online at www.arabiantravelmarket.com for buyers and travel professionals to view, including images, videos and press releases.

Talking about sustainability initiatives, Press says ATM acts as a platform to raise awareness and funds for the Just a Drop international water aid programme, with a focus on one of the charity’s Africa projects, the Mpumpule Community Borehole initiative in Zambia. 'Jointly sponsored by ATM and WTM London, this is the first real-time project that Arabian Travel Market has worked on with Just a Drop, and we registered combined exhibitor donations of $30,632 from ATM 2015 and WTM London 2015.'

Reed Travel Exhibitions has supported Just a Drop since 1998 and this year it will once again ask exhibitors for a nominal donation at the 2016 event.

By K S Sreekumar

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It’s simply spa-cial!

The UAE’s spa industry is forecast to achieve revenues of Dh8.3 billion ($2.26 billion) by 2017 while the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is the second fastest-growing market in the world for spas after Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).

To capitalise on this sector, the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) will introduce a dedicated Wellness & Spa Lounge, for 25 exhibitors representing some of the world’s most recognised health and wellness hospitality destinations.

“In our research we found that across all markets, wellness tourism is exceptionally popular, with in excess of 9 per cent year-on-year growth forecasted for the next two years, which is a staggering 50 per cent faster than overall global tourism,” said ATM exhibition manager Nadege Noblet-Segers.

“This prompted us to design a dedicated space with seminar sessions focused exclusively on industry topics. The ATM Wellness & Spa Lounge will be working in association with Spafinder Wellness 365, a leading consumer resource for wellness travel and the largest marketing and incentives company for the wellness industry, to offer suppliers an exclusive and convenient platform to meet new contacts and conduct business,” she added.

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ATM 2016 in numbers

2,873 exhibitors

80 countries

60 pavilions

26,000 visitors