Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2026 opened its Future Stage with industry leaders examining how artificial intelligence (AI) is moving beyond personalisation, chatbots and automated customer service to transform the systems and infrastructure supporting the global travel industry.
Located within the
Tech & Innovation Hub at the newly launched ATM Travel Tech, the Future
Stage was officially opened by Rachel Travers, President, UK Hub at RX Global.
The programme brings together industry experts for four days of discussions on
technologies, ideas and innovations shaping the future of travel.
Dr Marwan Alzarouni,
CEO, AI at the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), delivered the
opening keynote: “AI’s True Role in Rewriting the Travel Landscape”, focusing
on how AI is changing travel discovery and the systems and partnerships
supporting destinations and travel businesses.
As travellers
increasingly use AI platforms for inspiration, research and recommendations, Dr
Alzarouni highlighted the need for destinations to ensure their tourism
information can be accurately discovered and interpreted by AI-powered
platforms.
He said: “Traditional
search rankings are no longer enough. As travellers turn to AI for answers, we
have to make sure Dubai is not only visible, but represented with timely,
accurate and authoritative information across our entire tourism ecosystem. Where
we find gaps, we treat them first as content and discoverability challenges,
not just technology issues.”
The keynote also
examined the need to move beyond isolated applications of AI towards greater
integration across the travel ecosystem. With AI becoming increasingly embedded
in planning, operations and distribution, collaboration between destinations,
airlines, hotels, governments and technology providers will be essential to
unlocking its wider potential.
Dr Alzarouni added:
“You cannot use AI in silos. The real value comes when you integrate AI across
your partners and your systems so that destinations, airlines, hotels, and
government all move together. That is how you turn AI ambition into practical
solutions that reshape travel.”
The discussions
reflect a broader shift in the travel industry’s approach to AI, from
individual applications such as personalisation and customer service towards
using the technology to improve connectivity, operational efficiency and
decision-making across the wider tourism ecosystem.
Danielle Curtis,
Regional Portfolio Director – UAE, RX Global, said: “The conversation around AI
in travel is evolving incredibly quickly. We have moved beyond asking how
individual businesses can use AI to improve a particular part of the traveller
journey. The bigger question now is what happens when AI becomes embedded
within the infrastructure and ecosystems that support travel itself.
“That shift has
significant implications for destinations, airlines, hospitality businesses,
technology providers and policymakers. It requires us to think about
governance, connectivity, data and collaboration, as well as the technology
itself. .”
Other sessions on the
opening day examined wider changes across tourism and hospitality. “Decoding
Hospitality Growth – What Do Today’s Travellers Want?” explored how hotels are
adapting to increasingly multi-motivated travellers, while Sienna Parulis-Cook,
Director of Marketing & Communications at Dragon Trail International,
presented new research on Chinese outbound tourism during “Welcoming Back the
Chinese Traveller: Marketing Insights for the Middle East.”
AI remains a central
theme throughout the Future Stage programme. “Winning the Discovery Layer”
explores how AI agents, conversational search and autonomous trip planning are
changing travel discovery and booking. Meanwhile, “AI vs Human: What It Really Means
to Be a Professional in the Age of Intelligence” examines how automation is
redefining professional expertise and the continuing importance of human
judgement, creativity and decision-making.
The Future Stage is
part of ATM Travel Tech, which debuted this year as a dedicated co-located
show. More than 180 exhibitors from 30 countries are participating across two
dedicated halls, while the 850-square-metre Tech & Innovation Hub showcases
technologies spanning AI, virtual and augmented reality, robotics, fintech and
green technologies.
The programme supports
ATM 2026’s theme, “Travel 2040: Driving New Frontiers Through Innovation and
Technology”, examining how technological transformation, changing traveller
expectations and greater industry collaboration are expected to shape the next
era of global tourism. -TradeArabia News Service