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ATM 2016 welcomed nearly 40,000 trade visitors over four days
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Special
industry theme at Arabian Travel Market will turn its attention to what the Middle
East offers tourists seeking adventure, culture, heritage, wellness & spa and
cruising
Experiential
travel encompassing the adventure, culture, heritage, wellness & spa and
cruise tourism segments, which are currently trending globally, will be adopted
as the official show theme, for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017, taking place
at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 24-27 April.
“Travellers
are increasingly looking beyond conventional leisure programmes and itineraries
and actively seeking out atypical experiences that deliver a true taste of
local culture. This growing trend is now on the radar of the region’s tourism chiefs
as destinations face increased competition for their share of the more
traditional travel segments and are increasingly looking to diversify their
proposition into new and niche markets which require product differentiation and
innovation,” said Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel
Market.
ATM
2017 will integrate the experiential theme across all of the show verticals and
activities, including focused seminars and roundtable events, featuring
dedicated exhibitor participation.
| simon-press-senior-exhibition-director-arabian-travel-market. |
“The
Middle East has an abundance of authentic local experiences to offer from
overnight stays in a stone house in remote Omani villages to Old Dubai walking
tours that search out the best street food. We also want to create awareness of
how to convert concepts into viable commercial realities, to broaden the appeal
of Middle East destinations, increase their visitor numbers and revenues, which
can support sustainable economic development,” commented Press.
Marketing
to experiential travellers will be an integral part of the ATM Travel Tech
seminar programme.
“Developing
new communications’ strategies is a must to reach out and engage with these
consumers, who by the sheer nature of their choice, are unconventional, tech
savvy and mobile. So connecting through relevant content via social media
platforms, blogs, vlogs and peer-to-peer recommendations as well as third party
endorsements, will be examined in depth,” added Press.
Industry
professionals throughout the Middle East region are keen to look for new and niche
markets, especially in the short to mid-term as Dubai in particular, continues
to grow its hotel supply unabated. According to STR, at the end of August 2016,
Dubai had grown its room stock to 85,500 across 403 hotels, which is putting
added downward pressure on rates as hotels compete for occupancy, with little
respite ahead as room supply is set to rise further to between 140,000 and
160,000 rooms by 2020.
ATM
- considered by many industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and
North Africa tourism sector, witnessed a year-on-year visitor attendance
increase of 8% to over 39,800 in 2016, with 2,520 exhibiting companies, signing
business deals worth more than US$ 2.5 billion over four days.
ATM
2017 will build on the success of this year’s edition with the announcement of
an additional hall as Reed Travel Exhibitions looks to add to its record-breaking
achievements earlier this year.
One
new feature is the Chief Information Officer Summit and ATM 2017 also welcomes
back the UNWTO & ATM Regional Ministerial Summit as well as other popular
features’ such as the Leaders Breakfast, Global Stage, Wellness and Spa Lounge
(which has grown by 40% and now includes 35 international suppliers and 35 Middle
East specialist buyers) Travel Agent Academy, Buyers Club and the Bloggers
speed networking events.
Arabian
Travel market forms part of the World Travel Market Portfolio, and comprises of
the leading leisure travel events in the world; World Travel Market London, WTM
Latin America in Sao Paulo and WTM Africa in Cape Town, plus recently launched
WTM connect Asia in Malaysia, exclusive hosted buyer 1-2-1 meetings events.
For
more information on Arabian Travel Market 2017, please log on to: www.arabiantravelmarket.com
