· Aviation, regional tourism, destinations and technology some of the key topics discussed on the first day of ATM Virtual 2021
Following last week’s in-person Arabian Travel Market the
Middle East’s largest travel and tourism showcase, continued this week with the
opening today (Monday 24 May 2021) of ATM Virtual.
Under the same theme of ‘A new dawn for travel &
tourism’, the three-day event, which was specifically
designed for those industry professionals unable to attend the in-person ATM event,
kicked off this year with Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates, who gave a
candid outlook about the recovery of the aviation industry.
During a virtual conversation
with top aviation consultant, John Strickland, who conducted the interview from
London, Sir Tim initially gave his opinion on the recovery timescale of the
aviation sector.
“The ideal
situation is that the vaccine programme beats the virus by Autumn of this year
and we get some relief then demand will come back at a staggering rate. Low
cost (airlines) will benefit from intra-European travel, the US domestic
market, China’s domestic market and international travel will (also) return in
large numbers,” said Sir Tim.
“But the problem (with
this scenario) will be twofold. The ability of airlines to meet the demand when
it comes and two, the conditionality of country access requirements,” he added.
On the latter
point, Sir Tim explained that even though there is massive pent-up demand,
there may well be inhibitors too. Some passengers might be nervous and worried
about variant strains of the Coronavirus, the situation in India he said is creating
a ripple effect across the global economy.
Although airlines
and airports had really worked hard to ‘sanitise’ how they managed passenger
welfare, mitigating risk through their protocols, that alone would not be
enough.
“It’s a question
of how we navigate the next six months and if we do it right with equitable
vaccine distribution, testing regimes simplified and made cheaper, all of this
lends to the theory that by the end of the year, we’ll be back in business in
some scale,” he said.
john-strickland-director-of-jls-consultin
Sir Tim then
moved on to talk about business travel and said: “Business travel will return
in absolute terms, but segments will change. Airlines will have to adapt to the
changing nature of demand. An a la carte menu for business class which allows
you to pick and choose products at various price points that go with it, is a
smart idea.”
When Strickland asked
about the longer outlook for aviation, Sir Tim ended on a defiant and positive note.
“In the fullness of time it will all (Coronavirus) go away it will be history.”
Elsewhere on the programme IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh gave a keynote
interview, once again with John Strickland and explored
the priority issues on Willie Walsh’s agenda and talked about how IATA needed
to drive the engagement and consistency of approach to permit airlines to begin
the process of recovery.
The Saudi Arabia Tourism
Summit also returned virtually today (Monday 24 May) to take an exclusive look
at the future of Saudi’s hotel landscape. With the long-term tourism outlook
more bullish than ever, hotel industry heavyweights including Accor’s TIMEA CEO
Mark Willis, Hassan Ahdab, President of Hotels Operations for Dur Hospitality,
and Christopher Lund, Director, Head of Hotels, MENA Region, Colliers
International, discussed the vast potential for new and innovative hospitality
concepts that could keep pace with demand from fast-changing guest demographics.
Later in the week at ATM Virtual 2021, the ATM Hotel
Industry Summit will examine hospitality trends such as wellness and
sustainability.
The third day of ATM Virtual on Wednesday 26 May, will include highlights
such as Cultural Tourism for Growth and Responsible Technology for Travel &
Tourism sessions, as well as the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Conference taking
place at 2 pm to 5:45 pm GST, with the theme, Ready.Safe.Travel.
The Middle East Tourism Investment Summit organised by ITIC in
partnership with Arabian Travel Market 2021 will also take place virtually on
27 May.
To
view the keynote interview on demand or any other content, please register here. If you are
already registered, simply click here.
For the full virtual conference programme, please visit: https://bit.ly/34fDJWl
Tags: ATM Virtual
