Tag Archives: Arabian Travel Market

Active GCC hotel development pipeline now equal to 40% of existing room supply, compared with 11% globally

According to new research commissioned by Arabian Travel Market (ATM), and conducted at the end of September 2022 by hotel market intelligence and global benchmarking company STR, the GCC region now has over 170,000 hotel rooms under active development (planning, final planning & under construction). This is equivalent to 40% of the GCC’s existing hotel room inventory, a figure almost four times greater than the rest of the world which currently lags behind at an average of 11% under active development compared with existing supply. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Between EXPO 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision2030 strategy, the GCC’s hospitality sector development pipeline remains robust in contrast to global hotel development, which is slowing, due to weak economic growth forecasts. “While the hospitality sector’s growth does highlight the region’s increasing popularity on the global stage, it is also indicative of regional government strategy, to diversify GDP growth away from hydrocarbons into tourism, that will help to drive demand still further, over the coming years. The STR report estimates 135,560 existing rooms in Saudi Arabia with an active pipeline of 82,639 rooms, with total room inventory projected for 2030, at over 218,000 rooms. Similarly for the UAE, STR currently tracks more than 202,000 existing rooms with an active pipeline of 48,910 rooms, a combined total of almost 251,000 rooms by 2030. “Interestingly, Ras Al Khaimah, is second only to Dubai, with 5.076 rooms in its pipeline, almost the same amount as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah combined,” said Curtis. The UAE’s historic occupancy performance provides a blueprint of what the region can expect as new rooms enter the market. Rooms supply …

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India highlights film tourism at Arabian Travel Market, portrays nation as 365-day destination

MOT participates in the Arabian Travel Market, Dubai 2022. During the Mart, India Pavilion showcased the country as a 365-day destination with multi-faceted appeal, including culture, adventure, cruise, MICE, luxury, wildlife, wellness, and medical tourism. India Reopening as a theme has been amplified during the mart with the ‘Namaste Campaign’ to welcome international travellers.

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Collaboration at government level crucial for tourism recovery: Taleb Rifai

Speaking at the Arabian Travel Market that concluded its in-person element on May 19, Taleb Rifai, Chairman, International Tourism and Investment Conference (ITIC) and former Secretary General, UNWTO, said, “Governments must come together. They must work together. There is no sense in any country working on its own anymore.” The virtual element of ATM will take place from May 24-26.

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In-person event, Arabian Travel Market begins in Dubai

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President – Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO & Founder – Emirates Group and Chairman – Dubai World, inaugurated Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021, marking the start of the 28th edition of the Middle East’s largest travel and tourism exhibition. He was accompanied by HE Helal Saeed Al Marri, CEO – Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Director-General – Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and other VIPs. Taking place from May 16 to 19, this year’s event has 1,300 exhibitors from 62 countries. 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.

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Arabian Travel Market postponed to next year; new dates are May 16-19, 2021

In light of the changing global situation relating to the COVID-19 virus, Arabian Travel Market will now be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 16-19, 2021. An official statement on the event website reads as follows: “Many meetings took place with the Dubai World Trade Centre and we reviewed other options to organize an event in the last quarter. However, after consultation with our key stakeholders and after listening to our Industry, ultimately it became apparent that the best course of action, and with everyone’s best interests in mind, is to postpone the event to 2021.” Furthermore, it states, “We are firmly focused on delivering positive business and networking opportunities to the Middle East’s vast travel and tourism community and as such are excited to announce that we will be running an ATM Virtual Event across 1st – 3rd of June 2020. Join webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, 1-2-1 meetings, plus so much more keeping the conversations going and delivering new connections and business opportunities online.”

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India participates at 25th Arabian Travel Market in Dubai

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018, marking the start of the 25th edition of the show. This year’s show, which is taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25, 2018, has more than 400 stand holders. India’s presence at the show includes state tourism boards, hotels, tour operators and technology providers. Showcasing India’s diverse tourism offerings and the growing inbound numbers from the UAE, Navdeep Suri, Ambassador of India to the UAE, highlighted that there are currently 1065 flights a week between both nations connecting 17 Indian cities to the UAE. Suri was accompanied by Manas Pattanaik, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Tourism and Braja Mukherjee, Assistant Director (in-charge), Indiatourism, Dubai, while promoting the country at the show. ATM 2018 has adopted Responsible Tourism – including sustainable travel trends – as its main theme and this will be integrated across all show activities.      

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Maharashtra to promote itself as medical and wellness destination at ATM

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has announced its participation in Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25, 2018. MTDC plans to promote Maharashtra as the preferred destination for medical and wellness tourism, showcase its touristic attractions, meet tourism professionals and promote the opportunities of investment in creating healthcare and tourism facilities. Speaking about the state government plans, Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & Employment Guarantee Scheme, Government of Maharashtra said, “While the medical and wellness segment is largely untapped and caters to a niche segment of travellers we have seen a steady growth in this sector due to the quality and economically friendly services the state has to offer. Our goal is to position Maharashtra as a medical and wellness tourism hub. We are in the process of signing an MoU with the Indo-Arab Chambers of Commerce and Industries to highlight lucrative investment prospects within the sector.” Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC said, “We are witnessing tourism as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Maharashtra has one of the best qualified professionals in each field and this holds true in the domain of medical and wellness as well. We are now looking to create a unique identity by offering best health services for the world and establish ourselves as the best Medical tourism destination. At ATM 2018, we will be promoting various activities ranging from yoga, meditation to natural therapies to name some which is provided in the state.”

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India cashes in on yoga & wellness at ATM 2017

India has been participating at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) since its inception 24 years ago and this year is no different. Speaking at a media briefing held at ATM 2017, HE Vipul, Consul General of India, Dubai said, “We have 54 participants in total from India who are here at ATM including goverment agencies like IRCTC, ITDC, as well as a number of private tour operators. Two state governments Jammu & Kashmir and Kerala have put up stalls while officials from Madhya Pradesh are also participating. The theme this year is yoga and wellness and Dubai particularly has embraced yoga in a big way. There has been a consistent and positive growth from this region to India over the last 3 years with 2016 having registered an overall growth of around 17 per cent over the previous year. India is today the biggest source of tourist arrivals in UAE with the numbers increasing every year and with the simplification in e-Tourist Visa and introduction of e-business and e-medical visa, we expect more tourists to travel to India.” Gyan Bhushan, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, highlighted the country’s growing tourism figures, and said, “India registered a growth of 10.6 per cent in 2016, which is higher than the global average of about 4.3 per cent. It is an all round destination and offers diversity throughout the year since we have the Himalayas, the desert, beaches, plains and much more. Our focus on health & medical tourism, wellness, cruise tourism, among others has grown as well since these are booming sectors.” Saket Saran, Country Head, Air India, reiterated the fact that traffic has been strong between Dubai and India and said, “The …

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Over 30,000 visitors expected at ATM 2017

Over 2,600 exhibitors and an expected 30,000 visitors will participate at the 24th Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017, the largest travel trade event in the Middle East taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 24-27. Over 150 countries are participating, with more than 100 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut. New to ATM 2017, ILTM Arabia will play host to one-on-one, pre-scheduled appointments, between suppliers of luxury products and destinations from around the world to an audience of high net-worth individuals. Meanwhile marketing to experiential travellers will be an integral part of the ATM Travel Tech seminar programme. The UNWTO & ATM Ministerial Forum returns, uniting more than 20 ministers with industry leaders in the MENA region to consider methods of capitalising on tourism growth and building a sustainable ecosystem for the sector to unlock its potential within each country’s national agenda.

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ATM 2016 to focus on mid-market travel

Mid-market travel, which is a key growth segment for the region’s hospitality and tourism sector, has been selected as the official show theme for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2016, which will take place at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre from April 25-28, 2016. “Data released by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) revealed that up to 50% of the 3,600 new hotel rooms to enter the Dubai market in the final months of 2015 have a 3-star or lower rating, while competitive room rates are set to rival the luxury market, as 69% to have four stars or less according to research,” said Nadege Noblet-Segers, Exhibition Manager, Arabian Travel Market. “This will add much-needed midscale room stock to the emirate’s hotel landscape, where three-star or below room supply only accounted for 29% of total availability in the first quarter of 2015,” she added. Destinations like Dubai are already putting in place programs to encourage investment into midmarket hotels such as the release of government land plots for three and four-star hotel projects, speeding up of the construction permit approval process to just two months, and the waiver of the 10% municipality room tax for four years upon completion. Dubai currently has a total hotel key count of approximately 94,000. This figure is set to rise to between 140,000 and 160,000 keys by 2020 with around 20% set to target the mid-market hotel sector. A host of global hotel brands and local UAE-based operators are targeting the aggressive brand expansion in this area, especially after the latest Knight Frank report. The study revealed that the Dubai segment showed a year-on-year RevPAR increase of 0.5% during the first quarter of the year, …

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