{"id":76356,"date":"2025-05-01T15:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T11:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/?p=76356"},"modified":"2025-05-01T15:45:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T11:45:28","slug":"sea-and-air-travel-take-centre-stage-at-atm-2025-as-passenger-numbers-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/sea-and-air-travel-take-centre-stage-at-atm-2025-as-passenger-numbers-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea And Air Travel Take Centre Stage At ATM 2025 As Passenger Numbers Surge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sea and air travel have been under the spotlight at Arabian Travel Market<\/a> (ATM) this week as the event welcomed international leaders from the aviation and cruise industries. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, shared updates on the latest passenger numbers as well as his fascinating perspective on the future of aviation and the airport experience. Meanwhile, a panel of experts gathered to discussthe progress made in establishing the Arabian Gulf as a premier global cruise destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dubai<\/a> Airports is poised for another record-breaking year following a strong start to 2025, with January alone seeing 8.5 million passengers and projections pointing to 96 million by the end of the year. During the fireside chat, Griffithshighlighted the continued strength of key markets such as India, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the USA, underscoring Dubai\u2019s position as a vital global hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving this growth is Dubai Airports\u2019 commitment to innovation, with a focus on seamless, technology-driven passenger experiences, including facial recognition and AI. Griffiths also offered insights into the customer-first design strategy behind Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), which comprises eight smaller concourses to minimise transit times and maximise comfort for travellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on ATM\u2019s Global Stage, Griffiths<\/strong> said: \u201cIn the future, customer preferences are not going to be driven just by price and the product on board an aircraft, but the convenience and quality of the customer experience on the ground at airports. There is no other place for Dubai Airports to aim for than number one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to statistics outlined by Tourism Economics (An Oxford Economics Company) during the cruise industry panel discussion, between 2019 and 2024, global deployment in the industryincreased by 25%, with a further 5% expansion achieved in 2025 so far. The Caribbean, Europe and Asia-Pacific lead in terms of cruise deployment, and in the Middle East, the average number of cruise days spent in the region has increased by an impressive 125%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked to outlinekey source markets for MSC Cruises,Angelo Capurro- Executive Director, MSC Group\u2019s Cruise Division<\/strong>said: \u201cLast year, we welcomed a record 150 different nationalities and saw a particular increase in passengers coming from central Asia, driven by increased connectivity and better access to visas, combined with the appeal of the Middle East as a travel destination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel highlighted the Middle East\u2019s emergence as a global cruise destination, driven by infrastructure investments, regional collaboration and a growing appetite for cultural and immersive travel experiences. The launch of Aroya Cruises, Saudi Arabia\u2019s first luxury cruise line, was also a key topic, as well as the role of the Cruise Alliance in fostering regional collaboration and enhancing passenger experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Global Stage at ATMis home to the highest level of expertise, featuring C-Suite executives, ministerial leaders, and global influencers, featuring a dynamic mix of panel discussions, interviews, and presentations, all curated to inspire, educate and provide actionable takeaways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, on the final day of ATM, the Global Stage hosteda dedicated market insights session on the Asia Pacific Region<\/a> and spotlightedIndia’s next Gen Traveller<\/a> amidst the rapid rise of the country\u2019s tourism market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director for the Middle East, Arabian Travel Market<\/strong>, said: \u201cThis week at ATM, we\u2019ve had the privilege of hosting some of the most influential leaders and visionaries in global tourism. Through our conference sessions, we\u2019ve seen dynamic discussions on the future of travel, hospitality, sustainability, innovation, and new market opportunities, highlighting the pivotal role this event plays in shaping the industry\u2019s direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest ATM news stories are available at https:\/\/hub.wtm.com\/category\/press\/atm-press-releases\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Sea and air travel have been under the spotlight at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) this week as the event welcomed international leaders from the aviation and cruise industries. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, shared updates on the latest passenger numbers as well as his fascinating perspective on the future of aviation and the airport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76357,"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-76356","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\/76356","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=76356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76358,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76356\/revisions\/76358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}