Arabian Travel Market 2024 sees 15% year-on-year growth

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The 31st edition of Arabian Travel Market welcomed more than 33,000 visitors from over 160 countries to DWTC from 6-9 May 2024 – an 11% rise over last year

Over 2,600 exhibiting companies took part in ATM 2024, which featured industry professionals from around the world

This year’s show explored the drivers behind industry growth in line with the theme: ‘Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship’

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: More than 46,000 industry professionals from over 160 countries – including 33,500 visitors – attended the 31st edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), which concluded today (9 May) in Dubai, UAE.

This represents a 15% year-on-year increase in attendees compared to ATM’s landmark 30th edition, setting a new record for the show and demonstrating the strength, resilience and momentum of the global travel and tourism sector.

In line with ATM 2024’s theme, ‘Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship’, over 2,600 exhibitors gathered at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to explore the drivers behind industry growth and identify future opportunities within the global tourism sector.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “My colleagues and I are delighted that so many industry professionals from around the world were able to join us in Dubai to explore how innovation and entrepreneurship are shaping a more efficient, profitable and sustainable tourism sector for future generations. We are thrilled to have set a new show record, underscoring our position as the travel and tourism exhibition of choice as we continue to drive global growth within the industry.”

ATM 2024 welcomed His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, who chaired a meeting of The Executive Council during the show. H.H. Sheikh Hamdan approved a series of major transport and tourism-related projects in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

This year’s opening session saw policymakers from across the region explain how Gulf nations are working together to streamline the GCC’s tourism offering. The panel discussion, which took place following opening remarks from H.E. Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, featured insights from H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority; H.E. Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority; H.E. Azzan Al Busaidi, Undersecretary of Tourism at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism in Oman; and H.E. Sarah Buhijji, CEO of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority.

Experts on the Indian outbound market shared key insights during the session ‘Unlocking the True Potential of Indian Travellers’. Virendra Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of VIDEC, a travel, tourism and hospitality boutique advisory and analytics firm, provided details surrounding market opportunity assessments, channel and distribution analysis, characteristics and behaviours of Indian travellers, and projections of the market’s outbound travel trends over the next decade.

Panellists outlined predictions for the future of air travel and the importance of innovation in enabling the industry to accommodate the significant growth in air traffic during the session ‘Looking Skyward for Innovation: How Technology is Disrupting Aviation’. Moderated by travel expert Mark Frary, the session featured insights from Cirium, IATA, AviationXLab and Riyadh Air.

InterLnkd overcame stiff competition to win the third ATM Start-up Pitch Battle, which was held in association with Intelak. The UK-headquartered company uses specific data points and an intelligent matching engine to link the travel and hospitality sectors with the fashion, beauty and retail industries.

Experience Abu Dhabi secured the Best Stand Design Award (over 150m2) at ATM 2024. An independent panel of judges praised the tourism authority’s exhibition space for its flowing design, innovative use of greenery and excellent visibility from the show floor. Other Best Stand Winners included AlUla, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, ExploreTECH, flydubai, Qiddiya Investment Company and Saudi Tourism Authority.

Held in conjunction with Dubai World Trade Centre, ATM 2024’s strategic partners included Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as Destination Partner, Emirates as Official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as Official Hotel Partner, and Al Rais Travel as Official DMC Partner.

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025 will take place from 28 April to 1 May.

The latest ATM news stories are available at https://hub.wtm.com/category/press/atm-press-releases/.

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For more information, log on to wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html.

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now in its 31st year, is the leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2023 welcomed over 40,000 attendees and hosted over 30,000 visitors, including more than 2,100 exhibitors and representatives from over 150 countries, across 10 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai

Next in-person event: 6 to 9 May 2024, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai.

https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html

Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place from 6 to 12 May, within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2024. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes Influencers’ events, GBTA Business Travel Forums, as well as ATM Travel Tech. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, as well as a series of country forums.

https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html

About RX

RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.rxglobal.com.

About RELX

RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. *Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors

World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises leading travel events and online portals across four continents. The events are:

WTM London is the world’s most influential travel & tourism event for the global travel community. The show is the ultimate destination for those seeking a macro view of the travel industry and a deeper understanding of the forces shaping it. WTM London is where influential travel leaders, buyers and high-profile travel companies gather to exchange ideas, drive innovation, and accelerate business outcomes.

Next event: 5 to 7 November 2024 at ExCel London.

http://london.wtm.com/

WTM Latin America takes place annually in the city of São Paulo and attracts around 20,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers qualified content together with networking and business opportunities. In this its ninth edition – there have been eight face-to-face events along with a 100% virtual one, which was held in 2021 – WTM Latin America continued to focus on effective business generation, and achieved the advance booking of six thousand meetings that were held between buyers, travel agents and exhibitors in 2022.

Next event: 14 to 16 April 2025 – Expo Center Norte, SP, Brazil.

http://latinamerica.wtm.com/

WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2022, WTM Africa facilitated more than 7 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 7% compared to 2019 and welcomed more than 6 thousand visitors (unaudited), the same number as in 2019.

Next event: 9 to 11 April 2025 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/

About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.

https://atwconnect.com/

WTM Global Hub, is the WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. https://hub.wtm.com/

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