The 28th edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021 returned to Dubai in-person on Sunday morning. The region’s largest travel and tourism showcase shined the spotlight on Tourism For a Brighter Future during the opening session at ATM’s Global Stage.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO and Founder of the Emirates Group and chairman of Dubai World, officially inaugurated ATM 2021. HH Sheikh Ahmed was accompanied by HE Helal Saeed Al Marri, CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Director-General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Claude Blanc, WTM & IBTM Portfolio Director; Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director Middle East, ATM and other VIPs who embarked on a tour of the show floor as the four-day event got underway at DWTC.
Vaccinations, market segmentation and innovations in tech, travel corridors, marketing and product diversification were discussed on the ATM Global Stage.
Addressing the audience, His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), said: “To see true recovery in travel and tourism, countries need to accept that COVID-19 exists and that we need to learn to live the new COVID-19 normal.
“Since the beginning, Dubai has shown remarkable resilience in dealing with the pandemic. Taking decisive action at the right time, using all the data available to us as a smart city to make decisions, and opening the economy sector by sector, with the right precautions being taken at each stage, has enabled the gradual recovery of the travel and tourism industry and allowed the city to open its borders to both domestic and international travel.
“With the number of COVID-19 cases stabilising, due to high vaccination rates and some of the highest testing rates in the world, we can expect to see further easing of restrictions in Dubai in the near future,” he added.
Other notable speakers on the panel were Dr. Taleb Rifai, Chairman ITIC & Former Secretary-General United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); Scott Livermore, Chief Economist of Oxford Economics Middle East, Dubai; and Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing Director, Maldives Tourism Board.
Elsewhere on the agenda on the ATM Global Stage, tourism ministers and key industry stakeholders from the Gulf and Southern Europe convened during the Tourism Beyond COVID Recovery session to discuss the vast opportunities for travel, tourism and hospitality presented by the potential return of mass leisure tourism, medical and educational travel, business events and beyond that, cross-cultural exchange and collaboration.
This was followed by the ATM China Tourism Forum, which highlighted the continuing importance of China as a major source market for many MENA destinations, and examined the imminent return of inbound tourism from China as destinations including Dubai near “COVID-19 safe” status due to the success of their domestic vaccination drives.
Meanwhile, delegates at the ATM Travel Forward theatre heard from world-class technology experts discussing industry-leading insights about the role of technology in the future of travel.
“Technology plays a critical role in facilitating the restart of global travel and tourism in the wake of the COVID-19 bounce back,” said Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market.
“The discussions taking place at ATM Travel Forward highlight the readiness of travel businesses to face the new realities of the industry and provides a valuable forum for identifying the new technologies and innovations essential to restore travel confidence.”
Taking place from 16 to 19 May, this year’s event has 1,300 exhibitors from 62 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy, Germany, Cyprus, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Maldives, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico and the US, underscoring the strength of our reach.
ATM 2021’s show theme is appropriately ‘A New Dawn for Travel & Tourism’ and 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 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. In addition to the in-person Arabian Travel Market event, the travel events that are part of Arabian Travel Week are: travel technology exhibition Travel Forward, ARIVAL Dubai for the tours and attractions sector, GBTA’s half day virtual business travel conference, ITIC’s Middle East Tourism Investment Summit and regionally focused buyer groups including China, and of course ATM Virtual, the online edition of the ATM exhibition.
This year, for the first time in ATM history, a new hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM running a week later, from 24-26 May, to complement and reach a wider audience than ever before. ATM Virtual, which made its debut last year, proved to be a resounding success attracting 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries.
