Arabian Travel Market 2019 kicks off on Sunday in Dubai
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2019, the largest travel industry exhibition in the Middle East, will begin tomorrow, Sunday, April 28 at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Identifying the top tourism trends showing the greatest growth potential is one of the most valuable insights Arabian Travel Market has to offer. This year’s event will be no different as it launches Arabian Travel Week – an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows.
The 26th edition of ATM will form part of the inaugural Arabian Travel Week as well as ILTM Arabia, CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa – a new route development forum launching this year and new consumer-led event ATM Holiday Shopper which kicked off proceedings today on April 27.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said, “The introduction of two new events for 2019, as well as the creation of the Arabian Travel Week umbrella brand, was made possible due to the past success of ATM and ILTM Arabia. The debut ATM Holiday Shopper provides an exclusive consumer element, while CONNECT MEIA will provide a brand-new route development forum for our industry.”
Building on the success of last year’s event, ATM 2019 will welcome over 2,500 exhibiting companies and an expected 40,000 attendees, with over 150 countries represented, 65 national pavilions, and more than 100 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut including Expo 2020 Dubai, flynas, Belarus National Tourism Agency, Moscow Committee for Tourism and Montenegro National Tourism Organisation, South Africa Tourism Bureau and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.
ATM 2019 has adopted cutting-edge technology and innovation as its main theme, and this will be integrated across all show verticals and activities.
“Technology and innovation will also represent key focuses during this year’s show. Bots, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the Internet of Things (IoT) are expected to result in billion-dollar savings for our industry, so it is vital that we empower exhibitors and attendees to explore how these tools can be leveraged to benefit their customers and businesses,” said Curtis.
On the Global Stage, the opening session ‘Arabia China Tourism Forum’ will take place from 15.30 on April 28. With China set to account for a quarter of international tourism by 2030, an expert panel will discuss how destinations around the world can capitalise on this growth.
Curtis further mentioned, “Adding to this, this year’s event is set to showcase the largest ever exhibition from Asia in the history of ATM, with the continent witnessing an 8pc YoY increase in total show area and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka being the largest exhibiting countries.”
Turning a spotlight on upcoming hotel developments, technologies and concepts that will shape the region’s hospitality sector going forward, the Global Stage will host the inaugural ATM Hotel Industry Summit from 14.40 on April 30.
Other Global Stage highlights will be a focused seminar session on Saudi Arabia’s tourism potential and a keynote from Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, as well as the third Global Halal Tourism Summit which will explore the top trends within the sector and the growing role of technology, including the digitisation of Umrah.
The ultra-innovative Travel Tech Show at ATM and other calendar favourites will be returning for ATM 2019 including the Best Stand Awards, the Travel Agents’ Academy and the Digital Influencers and Buyers’ Speed Networking Events.
The four day exhibition will conclude on May 1.
