Growth of the mid-market
travel segment, the ATM Global Stage, Wellness & Spa Lounge, ATM Bloggers'
Speed Networking and Travel Agent Academy define this year’s event; Show
welcomes an additional exhibition hall and will host more than 2,800 exhibiting
companies representing over 86 countries, with 113 new
exhibitors and over 64 country pavilions
Arabian Travel Market
(ATM) organiser, Reed Travel Exhibitions, is finalising the line-up for this
year’s event, which is taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from 25-28
April 2016.
Following
the success of last year’s spotlight theme, which was family travel, the focus
for the 23rd edition is on mid-market tourism – a key area of
opportunity for Middle East destinations looking to diversify
their source markets and attract a larger volume of visitors.
“As
tourism infrastructure across the Gulf and beyond continues on its high profile
development path, our spotlight theme for 2016 has turned to mid-market
tourism,” said Nadege Noblet-Segers, Exhibition Manager, Arabian Travel Market.
“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.”
A
key point of discussion will be the number of new hotel rooms entering the
market, including the share that is planned to be in the four- and three-star
classification. According to the January Pipeline Report from STR Global, there
are 538 hotels totaling 151,771 rooms under contract in the Middle East and 321
hotels totaling 62,194 rooms under contract in Africa. Makkah, Saudi Arabia,
reported the largest number of rooms under construction with 21,068 rooms in 13
hotels. Three other markets reported more than 5,000 rooms under construction:
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (19,846 rooms in 63 hotels); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
(6,738 rooms in 30 hotels); and Doha, Qatar (5,980 rooms in 26 hotels). In
Dubai, for instance, Dubai currently has a total hotel key count of
approximately 94,000 and this figure is set to rise to between 140,000 and
160,000 keys by 2020 with around 20% set to target the mid-market hotel sector.
According to a recent Knight Frank report.
Midmarket
focused seminars include the opening session, Dubai
of the Future, taking place on 25 April from 13:00 - 14:30 on the new ATM
Global Stage. Panelists including Gerald Lawless, Head of Tourism, Dubai
Holding will pinpoint the source markets Dubai should be
targeting including midmarket travellers, families, young independent
travellers and couples, as well as the high-growth-potential BRIC countries in
order to evolve over the next two decades.
The mid-market strategies session, taking
place on 26 April from 13:15 - 14:15, also on the ATM Global Stage, is designed
specifically to identify who the midmarket traveller is, where they come from
and what they want. Confirmed panelists include, Dr. Amine Moukarzel, President
of Louvre Hotels Group MENA, Hilton Worldwide.
An additional exhibition hall has been added this year
to cater to rising demand. ATM 2016 will welcome over 400 main
stand holders and over 2,800 exhibiting companies with more than 26,000
visitors expected. Over 80 countries will be represented by exhibitors and over
150 countries will be represented by pre-registered visitors. A total of over
100 exhibitors are new this year and there are over 60 country pavilions.
Other new features at
this year’s event include the Wellness & Spa Lounge, a dedicated space for 25
exhibitors designed to connect Middle East wellness and spa buyers with
international suppliers in a series of exclusive pre-scheduled appointments on
26 and 27 April. There will also be a series on seminars taking place in the
Showcase Theatre
There’s
also a valuable new networking feature for exhibitors and travel bloggers. The
ATM Bloggers' Speed Networking will provide 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 will be grouped by geography and by travel
sector such as luxury travel, family travel, food and more. The event will
take place on Thursday 28th April from 10am to 11am in Hall 8.The
Travel Agent Academy will take place on the final day of the exhibition.
Other
highlights this year include the popular Travel Tech Show at ATM.
“The region has seen phenomenal growth
in online engagement in the last two years, transitioning from a traditional
face-to-face booking model to a new virtual reality where 24/7 updated
information is a basic expectation and speed of access is essential when it
comes to planning, researching and booking,” said Nadege Noblet-Segers. “Airlines and hotels are the acknowledged
market leaders when it comes to highly effective online marketing and consumer
engagement. This is an area where all industry players need to ensure that they
look at increasing market share and awareness through a blend of creative
messaging, teamed with ongoing technology investment, especially when it comes
to mobile applications.”
All of this is complemented by over 50
wide-ranging seminar and tech theatre sessions with topics covering mid-market
travel, luxury, aviation, technology trends, spa and wellness tourism,
business, adventure and halal tourism. Responsible tourism is also a key focus
and will headline several seminar theatre sessions with exhibitors including The
Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia, Namibia Tourism Board, Gray Line and FHRI
Hotels & Resorts, tour operators, airlines and other industry sub-sectors
focusing additional resources on exploring new opportunities in this area.
Popular
annual features include the easy-to-follow exhibition trails covering mid-market travel, halal tourism,
business travel, health & wellbeing, shopping, transportation, cultural and
heritage and adventure travel.
There’s also the high
profile New Frontiers Recovery Awards, which recognises the efforts of those
nations that have suffered devastating economic and human losses in the last 12
months, as a result of natural disasters. This year’s shortlist includes Taiwan,
Philippines and Nepal
Also on the agenda is the prestigious ATM Leaders
Breakfast that will welcome 100 heads of private sector travel organisations to this exclusive by
invitation only event. The
breakfast will be hosted in Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai on Wednesday 27
April.
Following the success of its inauguration
in 2015, the ATM Best Stand Awards are back for a second innings 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.
Held
under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice
President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, the show has grown to
become the largest showcase of its kind in the region and one of the biggest in
the world.
For
more information on Arabian Travel Market 2016, please log on to: www.arabiantravelmarket.com
