Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 10 May 2021: Travel Forward, the leading global event for travel technology, has revealed an impressive line-up of big name brands to present live on stage as a part of sister event Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
This
year’s ATM is a hybrid event. Travel
Forward is part of the in-person event taking place at Dubai World Trade
Centre from 16-19 May 2021, co-located with ATM Dubai.
ATM
Virtual will take place from 24-26 May and all sessions from the in-person
event will be available to view during the virtual event.
In
collaboration with the travel tech powerhouse Amadeus, Travel
Forward Theatre will welcome Amadeus’s senior vice president of
retail for Middle East and Africa, Jamel Chandoul, who will
discuss how collaboration can help to rebuild the travel industry using
technology to offer travelers a smoother and safer travel experience.
The
session looks at travellers’ top concerns including health apps. It takes place
on Monday 17 May from 13:30 – 14:30.
The four-day
event kicks-off on Sunday 16 May with a two-part session featuring Gavin Harris
from travel marketplace Skyscanner and Kathryn
Wallington from next-generation global distribution platform Travelport.
“The
Application of Technology to Adapt to the New Reality” begins at 12:30 on
Sunday 16 May.
Later
that day David Debeule,
director of Expedia Group’s
accommodation team in Middle East and Africa, will talk not only about the
insights that can be gleaned from listening to the global travel ecosystem but
also how these insights can be converted into real-world action plans. This
session is on from 16:15 – 17:00.
Elsewhere,
an hour-long expert panel will outline “The Path Forward for Destination
Marketing Organisations”. It will be led
by Hans Clement
from the Dubai office of Boston
Consulting Group and Iva Kutle
Skrlec, a destination marketing expert from Google. They will
share the findings from an extensive collaborative research project, giving
attendees practical advice and takeaways on how to position their destination
for the return of travelers. The panel begins at 16:30 on Monday 17 May.
Hotels
are also represented across the three-day event. Jochem-Jan Sleiffer,
president for the Middle East, Africa & Turkey operations of Hilton,
is part of a hospitality panel talking about how data and technology can
support personalised trips and memorable experiences. His session starts at 10:30
on Wednesday 19 May.
Simon Press
– Exhibition Director at Travel Forward
said:
“The
return of live events for the global travel industry is welcomed by all of us.
“The
line-up we’ve assembled for Travel Forward at ATM Dubai proves that senior
execs from across the travel tech ecosystem are willing to travel and share
their insights and expertise on how best to approach the first wave of
post-pandemic travellers.”
Danielle Curtis,
Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel
Market, said:
“Travel
technology is integral to our hybrid format this year. The use of technology is
accelerating across all industry sectors, none more so than the travel sector.
With expert insight, it will be fascinating to find out just what the ‘new
normal’ will look like, the role technology will play and how industry players
and consumers will adapt.”
ATM 2021 will be held at the
Dubai World Trade Centre spread across nine halls. Consistent
with the existing density restrictions and social distancing guidelines and
regulations, there will be 11,000 people in the halls at any given time. The theme of this year’s show
is ‘A new dawn for travel and tourism and the spotlight will be focused on the
very latest ‘COVID’ news from around the world – vaccine rollouts, the current
state of the industry and more importantly, what the future holds.
The event will once
again play an integral role in Arabian Travel Week, a 10-day long festival of
travel and tourism events taking place in Dubai and online.
Dubai
is one of the safest cities in the world to visit with a wide range of
precautionary measures in place to ensure the safety of tourists at every stage
and touchpoint of their travel journey, from arrival to departure. It
was also awarded a ‘Safe Travels’ stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC). Over 11.1 million doses have already been administered in the UAE, which
is also a major achievement.
ATM
2021’s strategic partners include Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce
Marketing (Dubai Tourism) as Destination Partner, Emaar Hospitality Group as
Official Hotel Partner, Emirates as Official Airline Partner and The Vision as
Official Destination Management Partner.
If you are planning to attend ATM in-person,
please feel free to post using the hashtags #ImGoingtoATM
and #IdeasArriveHere
To register for ATM 2021, go to https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb/enquire.html
Tags: ATM Virtual, Dubai, Arabian Travel Market
