India Remain the Biggest Source Market for Dubai in 2021

• GlobalData analysts predict India’s outbound trips will hit 29 million by 2025
• Flight queries for UAE and Egypt up 30% in India, according to Thomas Cook

As Indian flight queries for the UAE and Egypt witnessed a significant uptick, and the country retains its position as Dubai’s biggest source market, India’s tourism sector will be a key focus for delegates, exhibitors, and attendees at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022, which will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from Monday 9 to Thursday 12 May.

With India’s travel industry projected to account for 29 million outbound trips per year by 2025, according to analysis from GlobalData, and ResearchandMarkets.com predicting its outbound tourism market will surpass $42 billion by the end of 2024, ATM 2022 will offer a timely opportunity to explore the vast potential offered by the country’s travel, tourism and hospitality sector.

Data from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) shows that the country ranked top of the emirate’s source market list for 2021, accounting for 910,000 inbound visitors, and short-haul flight queries for destinations including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Egypt have witnessed a 30 percent uptick among Indian tourists, according to Thomas Cook (India).

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME – Arabian Travel Market, said: “The global pandemic had a major impact on India’s travel sector but, as our industry’s global post-pandemic recovery continues to gather pace, Indian tourists appear eager to return to their favourite Middle Eastern destinations. We are excited to explore the vast potential of this vital source market as part of our dedicated buyer forum at ATM 2022.”

The number of inbound tourists travelling from India to the UAE has witnessed a 50 percent increase of late, with VFS Global processing 40,000 travel visas since Dubai reopened its borders following the pandemic. With a buyer forum dedicated exclusively to India, attendees, exhibitors and delegates at ATM 2022 will have ample opportunity to take a deep dive into the country’s tourism, travel and hospitality industry, examining current and future trends, and exploring the ways in which destinations across the Middle East can capitalise on this important source market.

Organised in conjunction with TravTalk India, the ‘The Indian traveller: writing the global recovery sequel’ discussion will explore pent-up demand and eagerness to travel within India’s immense outbound travel sector. Moderated by Mr SanJeet, founder and CEO of DDP Group and Buzz Travel Marketing, the session will include expert insights from Jaal Kalpesh Shah, Group Managing Director of Travel Designer Group, and Sandeep Dwivedi, COO of InterGlobe Technology Quotient Pvt Ltd.

ATM 2022 will also host a range of high-profile exhibitors from India, including India Tourism, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, ITC Hotels, Le Passage to India Tours and Travels, Vervotech Solutions, Qtech Software, TI Infotech, and WebEngage/Webklipper Technologies amongst others.

“With the reopening of the Indian skies, flights to and from India now reach 3,250 flights per week by 66 airlines. Emirates alone is now back to pre-pandemic frequencies, operating 170 weekly flights to nine cities, which underscores the importance of the Indian market for the region."

“ATM 2022 offers the ideal forum in which to explore synergies between the GCC and Indian tourism sectors, and to identify opportunities to grow inbound travel in the future,” she added.

In addition to the dedicated India forum, ATM 2022 will also feature sessions focused on Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning tourism sector.

Now in its 29th year and working in collaboration with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) – formerly the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) – ATM show highlights in 2022 will include, among others, a destination summit focused on the key source market of India, as well as Saudi Arabia.

Previously called Travel Forward, the revamped and rebranded ATM Travel Tech event will take place on the ATM Travel Tech Stage, hosting seminars, debates, and presentations as well as the inaugural ATM Draper-Aladdin Start-up Competition.

The dedicated ARIVALDubai@ATM forum, meanwhile, will cover current and future trends for tour operators and attractions, focusing on growing business through marketing, technology, distribution, thought leadership, and executive-level connections.

ATM will once again play an integral role in Arabian Travel Week, a festival of events dedicated to enabling travel professionals from all over the world to collaborate and shape the recovery of the Middle East travel industry through exhibitions, conferences, breakfast briefings, awards, product launches and networking events.

The UAE remains one of the most Covid-secure countries on the planet, with consistently low case rates and robust measures to ensure tourists' safety at every stage of their visit. Like its neighbouring emirates, Dubai is committed to maintaining the highest hygiene and safety standards. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has endorsed its pandemic management, awarding the city a 'Safe Travels' stamp.

In line with the UAE government’s forward-thinking transition to a four-and-a-half-day, Monday-to-Friday workweek, this year’s edition of ATM will commence on Monday 9 May.

For more news about ATM, please visit: https://hub.wtm.com/category/press/atm-press-releases/       

If you’d like to learn more about ATM, visit wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html.

About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 29th year, is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2021 showcased over 1,300 exhibiting companies from 62 countries across nine halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, with attendees from more than 110 countries over the four days. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai

Next in-person event: Monday 9 to Thursday 12 May 2022, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html

Next virtual event: Tuesday 17 to Wednesday 18 May 2022

About Arabian Travel Week

Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2022. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes ATM Virtual, ILTM Arabia, ARIVAL Dubai, Influencers’ events and activations, as well as Travel Tech. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, ATM Speed Networking Events as well as a series of country summits.

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

About RX (Reed Exhibitions)

RX is in the business of building businesses for individuals, communities and organisations. We elevate the power of face-to-face events by combining data and digital products to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 400 events in 22 countries across 43 industry sectors. RX is passionate about making a positive impact on society and is fully committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.rxglobal.com

RELX About RELX

RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost half 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. The market capitalisation is approximately £33bn, €39bn, $47bn.*

*Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors

About the Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition:

Powered by Draper.VC and AladdinB2B, the Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition (DASC) gathers innovative startups to compete for the Startup Hero title and up to half a million dollars in cash investment. Wait— that’s not all. The winner gets a shot at international publicity and crowdfunding, through the Meet the Drapers TV Show. More information here https://aladdinb2b.com/competition/

About Aladdin

AladdinB2B is a technology platform leading the digital transformation of trade events by linking suppliers and buyers internationally, at the click of a button. Structured B2B meetings lead to transactions. More information at aladdinb2b.com

About Meet the Drapers

Pitch to millions, including one of Silicon Valley’s top VC families, on Meet the Drapers; a TV show looking for the next generation of startup heroes. The Draper family: Tim Draper, his father Bill Draper, his sister Polly Draper and one guest VC. Millions of American and international viewers will watch on both cable and digital. The crazy part is, the viewers can also invest! The winner of DASC gets the chance to appear on Meet the Drapers and pitch internationally to millions of investors. More information here: https://www.meetthedrapers.com/

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events, online portals and virtual platforms across four continents, generating more than $7.5 billion of industry deals. The events are:

WTM Virtual, is the WTM Portfolio virtual platform, created to offer global delegates the chance to arrange one-to-one virtual meetings, to do business, attend conference sessions and roundtables, take part in speed networking and more. WTM Virtual embrace the global leading travel shows in one platform.

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.

WTM Latin America takes place annually in São Paulo and attracts around 19,000 tourism professionals during a three-day event. The show offers qualified content, as well as networking and business opportunities. In its ninth edition – the first 100% virtual – WTM Latin America followed its focus on effective business generation and reached the milestone of 4,200 meetings held between buyers, travel agents and exhibitors.

Next event: Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 April 2022 – Expo Center Norte, SP, Brazil

http://latinamerica.wtm.com/

WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. More than 6,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s 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.

Next event: Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 April 2022 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/