AS the 20th edition of Arabian travel Market (ATM) readies up to welcome exhibitors, visitors and hosted buyers from across the world, statistics from organiser Reed Travel Exhibitions, reveal that demand from new exhibitors has pushed show floor space to a record of over 22,000 sq m, a six per cent increase over last year.
The show which takes place from which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 6-9, 2013 will have 27 more exhibition stands than last year, up seven per cent and an impressive 98 new companies covering over 2,160 sq m of space.
TTN spoke to Mark Walsh, portfolio director, Reed Travel Exhibitions ahead of the 20th anniversary event.
Congratulations on 20 years of ATM. How big is the event this year?
As you can imagine we are very excited to welcome in the 20th anniversary of the show. Compared to 1994 we have certainly come a long way. I believe that, at the beginning, we had 300 exhibitors and around 7,000 visitors attend the exhibition in 1994; this year we expect to host over 2,500 exhibitors and well in excess of 17,000 visitors.
What according to you has been the show’s biggest growth factor?
This year, exhibitor demand from Mediterranean nations has been particularly strong as the tourism industry in Turkey, Morocco and Egypt turn their attention to the outbound GCC market.
GCC travellers, with their high levels of disposable income, are naturally a key target market for Mediterranean destinations, but with traditional Western European source markets facing tough economic challenges – which could cause tourism receipts to decline – the relevance of the GCC markets becomes even more pronounced.
Other growth areas in terms of booked square meterage are the Technology pavilion and the Americas, which are up 34 per cent and 31 per cent respectively. We have had more interest than last year from tech companies, with the trend moving towards more wholesalers and reservation system providers looking to target hotel chains.
With regard to the Americas, a number of new flight routes have been launched into South American destinations such as Brazil and Peru. The most prominent – and one that has incredible potential – is Rio de Janeiro, which now has direct flights to Dubai. This has led to increased interest especially from Peruvian and Brazilian destination management companies.
Would you say the show’s decision to be held in Dubai has contributed to this growth?
Absolutely. Since the first ATM took place, Dubai has grown to become the major business hub joining east and west. I can’t think of another city that has changed and evolved so much in just twenty years.
What are the key features in place to ensure visitors and exhibitors get the most out of ATM?
A great way to make sure you are meeting with the key buyers who attend ATM, is the ‘MY ATM’ function. This is available for all exhibitors, and lets you pre-book meetings and appointments, thus saving time onsite. My ATM is an online diary system that allows exhibitors to request meetings with our buyers to make sure that they don’t waste a single minute of their time once they are here at the show.
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Exhibitors also need to ensure that their stands look interesting, with a high level of visual appeal, as a direct reflection of their organisation and brand positioning.
Another way to ensure they make the most out of the show is to download our free ATM app which gives up-to-date information about the event, as well as the exhibitor portal which can be used to organise and streamline all meetings set up over the four days, and upload exhibitor press releases which are fed in directly to the online media room.
What can visitors and exhibitors expect from ATM 2013?
With this year being our 20th anniversary, we have a series of dedicated events and seminars to celebrate this milestone achievement. The week will kick off with a panel session as part of our seminar series, entitled ‘20 Years: Now, Then and Tomorrow’. This session will take a look back at Dubai, and the UAE’s, travel and tourism achievements over the last twenty years. Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, and Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce, are headlining this year’s ‘The Big Conversation’ session, at which they will talk about their ground-breaking partnership.
We also have a special Digital and Technology Day, taking place for the first time this year. Here the focus will be on online travel developments, including a session offering a behind-the-scenes look at the concept of ‘gamification’ – the global trend boosting engagement, branding, loyalty and learning in travel.
We are also delighted to announce another first – our partnership with technology giant Google, who will host a half-day event under the theme ‘Think Travel’, which will give business leaders essential insight into the latest travel industry trends and digital innovations.
For all the travel agents and those looking for the next hot destination, we are also running a series of Destination Briefings throughout the week. These will cover five major geographical areas – the Mena region, Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe – with each getting their change to shine in the spotlight. The hour-long sessions will uncover new travel trends, provide insider tips to discover emerging destinations and key travel opportunities.
How many exhibitors and visitors can we expect this year?
There are over 2,500 exhibitors across 22,000 sq m which includes 27 more exhibition stands than last year, up seven per cent and an impressive 98 new companies covering over 2,160 sq m that will be exhibiting.
The on-going effect of the Euro zone crisis has seen a surge in participation from popular Mediterranean destinations to target growth opportunities in the GCC markets through our show, thus selling- out the event.
We’ve seen particularly strong interest this year from markets such as Turkey, Morocco and Egypt. Turkey has taken an additional 25 per cent exhibition floor space this year, with first-time exhibitors including two regional tourism bodies – the Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency and Dogu Karadeniz Illeri Hizmet ve Kalkinma Birligi. Other new international exhibitors include Peru, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh city, the Monaco Government Tourism Bureau, Libya, Turismo de Portugal and BrandUSA.
In terms of vertical sectors, technology continued to grow again this year up 34 per cent. Geographically two of the best performing regions were Europe and North Africa. Each region has grown by 20 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.
What do you expect to be the major trends at this year’s show?
One of the trends for this year’s show is online bookings, which will once again be a key focus at the technology seminar sessions; highlighting the dramatic shift in consumer behaviour over the last 12 months as travellers use technology for convenient airline and hotel bookings.
Another topical trend is online recruitment. Hotel chains are increasingly turning to online recruitment to hire new talent as the regional pipeline drives the need for fast-tracked manpower and executive level sourcing. One of the must-attend seminars will take place on the last day of ATM, under the topic ‘What’s your company value?’ with a follow-up session entitled ‘Fostering values in employees and companies’ wrapping up our careers day focus.
How many Hosted Buyers will we see this year? Who are the major buyers?
Our Buyers Club is nearly as old as ATM itself, and since its launch in 1995 we have seen a definite growth in not only the number of buyers at ATM but also the quality.
Within the Buyers Club, we welcome 145 hosted Hosted Delegates who are attending ATM for the first time. This year we have focussed our recruitment on Bric countries with a strong attendance from China, Russia, India and of course the Middle East region. Alongside our hosted programme we have seen overwhelming increase in Buyers club registrations and we expect to see more buyers at this event than in 2012 ensuring that this year will be our busiest year for these senior decision makers.