A total of 62 countries will be represented on the exhibition floor this year at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021, which takes place in-person at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) next month.
The region’s largest travel and tourism showcase has attracted key exhibitors from inbound and outbound markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UK, China, Germany, Russia, Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Maldives, the Philippines, Thailand and the US.
“This is an impressive response from travel and tourism organisations across all travel sectors, given the various travel restrictions in place around the world, and provides a major boost for the travel industry in the Middle East,” said Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director Middle East, Arabian Travel Market, which runs from May 16-19.
Many destinations participating in ATM this year, will be hoping to attract GCC visitors in the second half of this year, she said.
Countries such as the Maldives will have a significant presence at ATM, as well as perennial favourites such as Malaysia and Thailand, Germany, Greece, Italy and Switzerland.
“The Maldives (pictured below) has done exceptionally well in 2021 so far, welcoming over 200,000 visitors in the first two months of the year. It is one of the top destinations for UAE travellers and to cope with the increased demand, in March Emirates announced it was increasing its services over the Easter holidays, offering customers 28 weekly flights to Male, up from the scheduled 24 weekly flights,” added Curtis.
ATM 2021 is 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 theme of this year’s show is ‘A new dawn for travel and tourism’ and the spotlight will be focused on the very latest Covid news from around the world.
ATM 2021 will feature 67 conference sessions with over 145 local, regional and international speakers. Onsite, there will be a global stage which will include a hotel industry summit, dedicated buyer forums for Saudi Arabia and China, an International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC), as well as an aviation panel, and a special session on Gulf-Israeli ties.
This year the introduction of a new hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM running a week later to complement and reach a wider audience than ever before.
ATM Virtual, which made its debut last year, proved to be a success attracting 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries.
“This is now an integral part of the ATM offering. Not every industry professional from around the world, can attend in-person every year, particularly this year with travel restrictions changing rapidly around the globe,” said Curtis.
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