Debut Arabian Travel Market Virtual event registers 11,977 attendees and participants representing 140 countries.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 22 June 2020:Travel trade professionals from across the world gathered in their thousands to attend the three-day Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Virtual, which debuted on 1-3 June 2020.
The online event which attracted almost 12,000 attendees from 140 countries around the world, focused on the ME regions tourism sector, addressed emerging trends, as well as the opportunities and the challenges which are directly impacting the travel and tourism industry amid the COVID-19 global health pandemic and beyond.
In total, the event facilitated 11,301 prescheduled one-to-one meetings, of which over 92% were rated four or five, out of five stars. A series of one-to-one pre-scheduled 30-minute meetings between editors, exhibitors, and buyers also took place, and 23 live video sessions included QAs and polls which ran alongside the presentations to enable audience interaction. Overall, the webinars had more than 24,000 views over the course of three days.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), said: Considering that this was a debut event, the outcome clearly validated our strategy to virtually support and guide the regions travel and tourism industry. The resilience and determination to get through these challenging times were clearly evident.
It also underscored our commitment to organize an event with positive and constructive business insight and opinion, as well as offering networking opportunities across the entire community.
There were so many highlights during the event, that it would be extremely difficult to single out any particular session. The event was seamless, each session complemented the next and it is also fair to say that the wholewasgreater thanthesumof itsparts.
The highlight of the opening day was an interview with Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline. During a discussion with aviation expert John Strickland, Sir Tim predicted a degree of tourism recovery during the course of 2021, and expectations for Emirates to be operating its network prior to COVID-19 by 22/23, 23/24.
Another key event that took place on the first day was the Arrival-runOTAs Distribution for Tours Attractions Post-COVIDsession, which explored the changes amid the rise of online travel agencies (OTAs), the re-opening of operations and what this means for the tour and attraction operators across the Middle East.
The much anticipatedThe Virtual ATM China Forumtook an in-depth look at the potential of the Chinese outbound leisure market post COVID-19s closed borders and what overseas destinations and attractions can do to reassure and convince Chinese tourists, of whom 45% are willing to travel overseas, that their destination is safe to visit.
Other issues discussed included, technology, the role of international industry associations and the need for destinations to change their propositions, with a focus on safety, trust, and consumer confidence.
Another highlight of the second day was the live webinar Bouncing Back: Tourism Strategies for the Future where Keith Tan, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board, underscored the importance of governments implementing green lanes to aid tourism recovery and promote bilateral travel agreements. He cited the common standards Singapore and China have implemented to allow travel between the two countries.
The third and final day included theinterviewwith Wizz Air CEO, Joszef Varadi where he confirmed his ambitions for the low-cost carriers impending move to operate out of Abu Dhabi, and their plans to have 100 aircrafts serving the GCC markets by 2035.
Other highlights on the final day included theInternational Travel Investment Conferencesummit, the responsible tourism session, The Implications of COVID-19 for Responsible Hospitality, and the Influencers session, Make Your Connection: Influencers as a Key Part of the Marketing Mix COVID-19 The Road to Recovery.
As an organiser we have learnt a lot from this virtual experience and to give our seminar programme broader reach and greater inclusivity, we will certainly be looking to integrate more virtual elements into our physical show next year, said Curtis.
The sessions and other content are now available on demand via the WTM Global Hub. To view, please go to:https://hub.wtm.com/atm-virtual/
About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 27thyear, continues to be the focal point for the Middle Easts resilient and ever-changing travel and tourism landscape and prides itself on being the hub of all travel and tourism ideas providing a platform to discuss insights on the ever-changing industry, share innovations and unlock endless business opportunities. The next live show will take place from Sunday 16thto Wednesday 19thMay 2021.www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitionsis a leading global events business. It combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 500 events in almost 30 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants.
Our events, organized by 35 global offices, leverage industry expertise, large data sets and technology to enable our customers to generate billions of dollars of revenues for the economic development of local markets and national economies around the world. Reed Exhibitions is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.www.reedexhibitions.com
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitionsis the worlds leading travel and tourism events organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 20 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, LGBTQ+ travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf and spa travel. We have over 35 years experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.www.reedtravelexhibitions.com
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market(WTM) Portfolio comprises nine leading travel events across four continents, generating more than $7.5 billion of industry deals. The events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating over 3.71 billion in travel industry contracts.london.wtm.com
Next event: Monday 2ndto Wednesday 4thNovember 2020 London #IdeasArriveHere
WTM Latin Americaattracts about 9,000 senior executives and generates about US$374 million of new business deals. Taking place in So Paulo, Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 8,000 unique visitors, including buyers and travel agents, attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news.latinamerica.wtm.com.
Next event: Tuesday 20 October to Thursday 22 October 2020 So Paulo
WTM Africalaunched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Around 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africas leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors.africa.wtm.com.
Next event: 2021 Cape Town
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