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- CONNECT Middle East,
India & Africa 2019 to take-off alongside Arabian Travel Market, after
ATM organiser partners with Lyon-based aviation event specialist The
Airport Agency
- Emirates will be the
official airline partner while Emaar Hospitality Group will be the
official hotel partner
Reed
Travel Exhibitions (RTE), organiser of the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM)
showcase in Dubai, has boosted its travel portfolio, having signed a
collaboration agreement to launch CONNECT
Middle East, India & Africa 2019 – a new route development forum.
The two-day show will be co-located with
Arabian Travel Market 2019 and will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre
on Tuesday 30th April and Wednesday 1st May (day three
and four of ATM).
Emirates will be the official
airline partner - with Emirates Networking Planning team attending the show - while
Emaar Hospitality Group will be
the official hotel partner – both of which will offer
preferential rates exclusively for delegates attending the show.
Nick Pilbeam, Divisional
Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions: “The Middle East’s aviation market is
forecast to grow five per cent annually until 2036, according to IATA. It is
predicated that the sector will witness an extra 322 million passengers a year
on routes to, from and within the region – with the total market size expanding
to 517 million passengers over this period.
“The sector is expected to contribute nearly
AED 200 billion to the UAE’s economy by 2020, providing up to 750,000 jobs.
“Moreover, the aviation industry is a crucial
economic pillar for Dubai, accounting for more than 27 per cent of Dubai’s GDP,
or $26.7 billion, according to Oxford Economics. This is expected to increase
to 37.5 per cent by 2020 with a total annualised impact of $53.1 billion.”
CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa 2019 is
expected to bring together airline specialists, aviation authorities, tourism
boards, airports and tour operators, as well as other travel-related industry
professionals.
With up to 400 delegates, the structure of the
vertical event will include unlimited one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments, a
conference programme, panel discussions and airline & industry briefings as
well as an exhibition area dedicated to airports and suppliers.
“Being the world’s largest travel event
organiser, with shows on all continents, our collaboration with The Airport
Agency will bring the entire tourism supply chain together, providing huge
strategic commercial opportunities for aviation professionals, particularly
those specialising in airport route development, networking planning and procurement,”
Pilbeam added.
CONNECT has already held events around the
world, the most recent being CONNECT in Georgia which brought together over 500
aviation decision makers including more than 65 airlines and represented 250
airports to discuss current and future air transport links, route development
plans as well as addressing topical issues and challenges and identifying and
capitalising on emerging trends.
Commenting on The Airport Agency’s
collaboration with Reed Travel Exhibitions, Karin Butot, CEO, The Airport Agency,
said: “CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa is set to deliver a unique
networking platform for airports, airlines and tourism to meet and network
alongside ATM, the largest international travel event in the region which
celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.
“As more and more airports are working in
synergy with their destinations to explore and secure new airline services,
CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa will deliver exceptional opportunities
in an established, highly-productive format, thus making the show the only
aviation route development event in the region for both inbound and outbound
travel, connecting senior aviation professionals with airlines and airports all
over the world.”
Dubai International Airport was the
busiest international airport measured by total passengers for the fourth
consecutive year, as it welcomed six new carriers in 2017 and opened 12 new
routes for 2018.
The airport served 88.2 million
passengers in 2017, an increase of 5.5 per cent from 2016, Dubai Airports said
in a statement. Traffic this year was forecast to grow 2.4 per cent to 90.3
million.
Propelled by a partnership between
Emirates and sister low-cast carrier flydubai, growth is expected to continue
in 2019 as the momentum gathers in the build up to Expo 2020, when 25 million
visitors are expected.
