InterLnkd crowned winner of the ATM 2024 Start-up Pitch Battle, held in association with Intelak

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This year's ATM Start-up Pitch Battle attracted 33 submissions, up from 13 last year and denoting a 158% increase

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: InterLnkd overcame stiff competition on the final day of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024 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.

A total of 33 travel start-ups submitted entries for this year's competition, a 158% increase compared to last year’s figures. Finalists ClearQuote Technologies ME Ltd, stayK and InterLnkd presented to judges Sarah Saddouk, Director of Innovation – Entrepreneur.com and Mohammad Khoori, Ventures Team – Emirates Group.

Barry Klipp, Co-Founder and CEO of InterLnkd, outlined the company’s position as the first and only company to link the travel and hospitality industries with the fashion, beauty and retail industries to drive an incremental revenue stream to the former and a targeted sales solution to the latter.

Klipp said: “Using specific data points, and a unique intelligent matching engine built through AI algorithms, InterLnkd is able to connect thousands of bookings from travel and hospitality with thousands of products from fashion, beauty and retail to deliver incremental revenue streams to both parties.”

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “As we embrace entrepreneurship and innovation in travel at this year's ATM, our pitch battle provides an ideal platform for emerging brands to unveil their cutting-edge industry solutions. Entrepreneurship in tourism is driving significant change across the industry, bringing forth creative ideas that enhance the traveller experience, optimise business operations, and build sustainable, culturally rich ventures that positively impact local communities.

“Our thanks also go to our partner, Intelak, a premier technology and innovation hub in Dubai that empowers both early-stage and established startups with the education, mentorship, tools, and resources necessary to tackle business challenges head-on,” Curtis added.

The largest edition of ATM to date will close today following four days of impactful industry discussions and unrivalled networking opportunities across the MICE, leisure, luxury and corporate travel sectors. Today’s sessions will focus on the next generation of travel and tourism talent with the Educating Young Entrepreneurs: Building a Career in Travel session and the Network with Future Leaders event.

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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