{"id":73074,"date":"2022-05-12T16:33:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T12:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/?p=73074"},"modified":"2022-05-12T16:33:26","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T12:33:26","slug":"industry-leaders-explore-long-term-trajectory-of-middle-east-travel-and-tourism-at-arabian-travel-market-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/industry-leaders-explore-long-term-trajectory-of-middle-east-travel-and-tourism-at-arabian-travel-market-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry Leaders Explore Long-Term Trajectory Of Middle East Travel And Tourism At Arabian Travel Market 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 23,000 visitors attended the 29th<\/sup> edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022<\/a>, as industry leaders gathered at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to share insights into the future of international travel and tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to doubling our visitor numbers year on year, ATM 2022 hosted 1,500 exhibitors and attendees from 150 countries,\u201d commented Danielle Curtis<\/a>, Exhibition Director ME for Arabian Travel Market. \u201cThese figures are especially impressive given that lockdowns are still taking place in China and other destinations. What\u2019s more, the development of the travel and tourism sector throughout the Middle East region shows no signs of abating, with GCC hotel construction contract awards set to rise by 16 percent this year alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The value of UAE and Saudi Arabian projects accounted for 90 percent of all regional hospitality contracts awarded in 2021, according to research from BNC Network. With analysis from Colliers International forecasting that $4.5 billion worth of hotel construction contracts will be awarded in the GCC during 2022, industry experts took to the ATM Global Stage for a panel discussion about the future of the region\u2019s hospitality industry.<\/p>\n

Moderated by Paul Clifford, Group Editor \u2013 Hospitality at ITP Media Group, the panel discussion featured insights from Christopher Lund, Director \u2013 Head of Hotels MENA at Colliers International; Mark Kirby, Head of Hospitality at Emaar Hospitality Group; Tim Cordon, Area Senior Vice President \u2013 Middle East and Africa at Radisson Hotel Group; and Judit Toth, Founder and CEO of Vivere Hospitality.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the need to attract and retain talent within the Middle East\u2019s hospitality sector, Radisson Hotel Group\u2019s Cordon said: \u201cThe organisations that get this right are going to benefit because, of course, we know how expensive it is to bring new people into our business and it\u2019s even more expensive if you lose them. I don\u2019t think you can talk about the future of hospitality without talking about the future of talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vivere\u2019s Toth pointed out that it was equally important to educate industry professionals on the priorities and mindset of younger employees and guests alike. \u201c[The younger generation] think completely differently. They live in a world of crypto and NFTs. How are they going to be able to bring their ideas and talents into the [hotel] business? And remember, on the other side, your new and future customers are also coming from the same background, with the same motivations and understanding. So, it\u2019s a matter of bringing in new talent that shares common ground with new customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on the continued importance of nationalisation efforts, Emaar Hospitality Group\u2019s Kirby said: \u201cEmiratisation coexists with how we develop our leadership teams to operate hotels. We focus on leadership at this level to come from within, [drawing on] internal talent. The fact that we\u2019re growing and opening new hotels helps us, because it provides opportunities for our existing team members to move up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four-day live event was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group Chairman of Dubai World. The show\u2019s opening session, which was moderated by CNN\u2019s Eleni Giokos, featured Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing; Scott Livermore, Chief Economist at Oxford Economics; Jochem-Jan Sleiffer, President \u2013 Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Hilton; Bilal Kabbani, Industry Head \u2013 Travel and Tourism at Google; and Andrew Brown, Regional Director \u2013 Europe, Middle East and Oceania at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s opening day also featured the first session of the ARIVALDubai@ATM forum, during which industry experts explored the role that in-destination experiences are playing in shaping the future of global travel and tourism. Later in the afternoon, ministers from the UAE, Jordan, Jamaica and Botswana took to the ATM Global Stage to discuss the importance of investment, technology and inclusivity in driving Middle East tourism forward, as part of the International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC) Ministerial Roundtable.<\/p>\n

The second day of ATM 2022 saw senior representatives from Air Arabia and Etihad Aviation Group join JLS Consulting\u2019s John Strickland on the ATM Global Stage for a discussion about efficiency and sustainability within the aviation sector. Later in the afternoon, D\/A\u2019s Paul Kelly offered his perspective on how to connect with the Arabic travel audience more effectively. At the end of day two, video-sharing platform \u2018Welcome to the World\u2019 secured up to $500,000 of investment after winning the inaugural ATM Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition on the ATM Travel Tech Stage.<\/p>\n

Day three of ATM featured sessions focused on what guests really want, sports tourism, hospitality tech trends, dining experiences, metaverse-based travel services, the role of influencers and more. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) also hosted two panel discussions on the third day, shining a spotlight on sustainability and long-term trends within the business travel segment.<\/p>\n

As part of the conference agenda for the fourth and final day of ATM 2022, representatives from Atlas, Wego Middle East and Alibaba Cloud MEA took to the ATM Travel Tech Stage to explore how data is changing airline retailing. Panellists shared insights into how to build data-led organisations, and why companies that successfully harness travel data today will be most likely to succeed in the longer term.<\/p>\n

The morning sessions included a session hosted by WTM Responsible Tourism, on the ATM Global Stage, focusing on how the latest innovations can be used to promote responsible technology for travel and tourism. Concluding this year\u2019s edition of ATM, afternoon sessions included a discussion about the return and rise of city tourism.<\/p>\n

The final day of the live event also included the announcement of ATM 2022\u2019s \u2018Best Stand Design\u2019 and \u2018People\u2019s Choice Award\u2019, which were presented to SAUDIA for its futuristic and striking concept. Other stands awarded for their creativity included the Department of Culture and Tourism \u2013 Abu Dhabi, Jumeirah International, Ishraq International and TBS\/Vbooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cATM 2022 has provided a timely opportunity for the global travel and tourism sector to gather in Dubai and explore the future of our industry. Innovation, sustainability, technology and talent acquisition and retention will be crucial to its long-term success,\u201d concluded Curtis.<\/p>\n

Following the success of the hybrid approach adopted for last year\u2019s edition, the live, in-person component of ATM 2022 will be followed by the third instalment of ATM Virtual, which will take place next week from Tuesday 17 to Wednesday 18 May.<\/p>\n

For more news about ATM, you can visit https:\/\/hub.wtm.com\/category\/press\/atm-press-releases\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For general information on this year\u2019s show, please visit\u00a0wtm.com\/atm\/en-gb.html<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 23,000 visitors attended the 29th edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022, as industry leaders gathered at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to share insights into the future of international travel and tourism. \u201cIn addition to doubling our visitor numbers year on year, ATM 2022 hosted 1,500 exhibitors and attendees from 150 countries,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73077,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73074\/revisions\/73077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}