·
KSA leads regional development with pipeline of
more than 100,000 hotel rooms
· Investment to be key focus throughout ATM, which will run from 1-4 May in Dubai
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, 18 April 2023: Industry experts will
gather in the UAE to discuss sustainable decision-making and financing during
the International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC) Middle East
Tourism Investment Session at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2023, which will take
place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from Monday 1 to Thursday 4 May.
Saudi Arabia is
leading the GCC’s tourism development activities with a pipeline of 100,071
hotel rooms, according to data released by STR. Dubai is the region’s second
most active market with 27,095 rooms under contract, followed by Qatar (17,145),
Oman (10,292), Bahrain (3,452) and Kuwait (1,369). In total, there are 159,424
pipeline rooms under contract in the Gulf at present.
Related opportunities
and challenges will be placed under the microscope throughout ATM 2023, thanks
to a range of panel discussions and events related to industry financing. In
addition to the ITIC panels, this year’s show will feature sessions
highlighting industry-critical issues such as travel tech investment, the
contemporary geopolitical landscape, urban regeneration, future markets, space
tourism and more.
Danielle
Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel
Market, said: “With nearly 160,000 hotel rooms under development across the GCC,
this region is undoubtedly a global hotspot for industry investment right now. Thanks
to the participation of ITIC and a host of other finance-related sessions, ATM
2023 represents the ideal forum for travel, tourism and hospitality
professionals from around the world to explore the latest investment
opportunities and novel financing models with some of the biggest names in our sector.”
Taking place on day three of ATM 2023, the ‘ITIC Tourism Investment Session: Making Sustainable Decisions’ will feature insights from an array of industry experts. The sessions will begin with a tourism economic outlook for 2023 from Gerald Lawless, Director of ITIC Ltd, Invest Tourism Ltd and Ambassador for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
ITIC’s
opening session will be followed by a panel discussion on the increasing
correlation between sustainability and investments in travel and tourism
projects, moderated by Sameer Hashmi, Middle East Business Correspondent at BBC
News. Speakers will include HE Ahmed Issa, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and
Antiquities; Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism; Raki Phillips, CEO
of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority; and Maher Abou Nasr, Vice
President, Operations – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at IHG Hotels & Resorts.
ATM
2023’s ITIC sessions will conclude with an interview between Elizabeth Maclean,
Co-Managing Director of Herdwick Communications, and Dr Lubna Bader Salim Al Mazroei, Manager – Economic
Diversification Investments at Oman Investment Authority,
during which the two will discuss growing opportunities for women across the
Middle East’s tourism industry.
The
30th edition of the show will also feature ‘Plug
and Play: Sustainable Tech – Startups Pitch Battle’, which will see
seven entrepreneurs pitch their innovative solutions in front of a panel of
independent industry experts at ATM 2023’s brand-new Sustainability Hub. This
year’s judges will include Natalie Seatter, Chief Product Officer at OAG; Jalil
Mekouar, Founder and CEO of inHovate Solutions; Kristi Choi, Early Stage Tech
Investor at Plug and Play; Winnie Chiu, President of Dorsett Hospitality
International; and Essam AlZahrani, Tourism Startup Studio Programme Manager at
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism. The winning startup will receive a range of
industry support, including access to Plug and Play’s Startup Accelerator
cohort and exhibition space at ATM 2024.
Other
investment-related highlights at ATM 2023 will include sessions on financing
sustainable travel, backing green technologies, strengthening the supply chain,
future-proofing the travel sector against geopolitical turmoil, the power of
urban regeneration, future markets and space tourism. These panels will be
attended by a variety of high-profile speakers, such as Haitham Mattar,
Managing Director – IMEA at IHG Hotels & Resorts; Guy Hutchinson, President
and CEO of Rotana Hotel Group; Johan Eidhagen, Managing Director of Wizz Air; Robert
Willock, Director MENA & Regional General Manager at The Economist
Intelligence Corporate Network; Saleh Al Geziry, Director-General for Tourism
at the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism; Christian Delom, Secretary
General of A World For Travel; HE Ghada Shalaby, Egypt’s Vice Minister of
Tourism and Antiquities; and Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism.
The
30th edition of ATM will explore the future of sustainable travel in
line with its theme, ‘Working Towards Net Zero’. Having officially
initiated its journey to net zero, the conference programme will explore how
innovative sustainable travel trends are likely to evolve, allowing delegates
to identify growth strategies within key vertical sectors, while providing a
platform for regional experts to explore a sustainable future ahead of COP28,
which will take place in November 2023 at Expo City Dubai.
The conference will also
feature a sustainability
category at its annual exhibitor awards for the first time.
Exhibiting organisations will be recognised based on the extent to which they
have considered the environmental impact of their stands, as well as their
efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.
ATM 2023 is held in
conjunction with Dubai World Trade Centre and its strategic partners include
Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as the Destination Partner,
Emirates as the Official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as the Official Hotel Partner and Al Rais
Travel as the Official DMC Partner.
The
latest ATM news stories are available at https://hub.wtm.com/category/press/atm-press-releases/.
To
register for ATM 2023, please log on to: https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb/enquire.html.
Tags: Tourism Investment Session, Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2023, Danielle Curtis, Gerald Lawless, ITIC Ltd
