Every year as we wait for the official Arabian Travel Market (ATM) ribbon-cutting, I feel a rush of emotion: relief that we’ve pulled it all together, excitement at the four days ahead; and pride in the effort of the entire marketing team.
For 2016, we have added a unique new element to the show, with the introduction of #myATMstory, which gives visitors, exhibitors and our partners the opportunity to share their experiences through Twitter and we will also feature guest blogs on our website.ATM takes place at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, in Dubai, UAE, from April 25 to 28. The human interest angle is hugely important, and storytelling as a means to communicate is becoming increasingly powerful. We also want to take our stakeholders behind the scenes to show you exactly how the Reed Travel Exhibitions team prepares for each edition –and tell our own story. This will be my fifth show as marketing manager and, working with a team split between London and Dubai, the co-ordination required to bring the region’s largest travel and hospitality industry event to fruition begins the second ATM wraps for the year.Business and networking are the obvious goals of each edition and my team is in place to successfully facilitate the buyer-seller dynamic. In 2015, the ATM marketing team attracted over 26,000 visitors – a 15 per cent increase on the previous year- and this resulted in over 770,000 meetings and $2.5 billion of new business generated on the show floor.The role of the marketing team is also operational as we are responsible for everything from selecting the annual host hotel, ground handler and airline partners to onsite visitor registration. We also manage all the official publications including the ATM catalogue, routeplanner, show dailies, inside ATM magazine and the annual ATM Yearbook. And we work closely with the sales team to support exhibitors with a full suite of marketing services. Everything starts with research, and we begin the process by sending out email questionnaires to each and every ATM attendee in order to be able to analyse all areas of the show. This in-depth analysis is absolutely fundamental to our strategic development and to shaping plans for the year ahead, whether that’s deciding on seminar programme topics, identifying new growth avenues, or introducing new features that meet the needs of both our visitors and exhibitors. Our approach to visitor promotion is based on driving additional annual visitor numbers whilst maintaining quality; complemented by equally quality-focused exhibitors, who are looking to achieve a solid return on their investment into the show.We offer ongoing sales support through scheduled webinars designed to help exhibitors with their operational planning and public relation campaigns as well as our annual series of GCC workshops that provide invaluable insight into the show for new exhibitors; plus there is a dedicated exhibitor portal on the ATM website, where exhibitors can upload relevant brand/corporate information and set up meetings with registered buyers.For our visitors, apart from the obvious business opportunity, a major attraction is our calendar of events and specialised features, and this is our favourite part of the organisational process.We spend an inordinate amount of time researching pertinent industry themes, evaluating the optimal format for our seminar sessions, recruiting the right calibre of speaker, and then managing the ‘live show’.Keeping ATM fresh and exciting is critical to our success and for 2016 we will launch the ATM Global Stage, which is a space dedicated to showcasing leading industry professionals covering high level strategic topics. All this planning and behind the scenes wouldn’t mean anything without a solid public relations and communication strategy that engages all our stakeholders around the world.We work hand-in-hand with our official PR agency, Shamal Marketing Communications, in the run-up to each edition, to put in place a comprehensive global PR campaign, hosted media programme, management and exhibitor press conference schedule. This is further supported by digital marketing activity, which encompasses the ATM website, a proactive email campaign for visitor and buyer recruitment, management of the ATM blog, the ATM app and the all-important analytics and campaign tracking. Social media buzz is the final link in the communications chain and we are active across the entire year on all major channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram; and this is absolutely integral to the overall marketing campaign. This year we will launch our all-new blogger speed-networking programme. This will give exhibitors the opportunity to meet with regional travel bloggers and explore ways to work together in an age where recommendations, opinions and reviews are paramount in influencing travel purchase decisions. Traditional media outlets are also key to disseminating the ATM message, and our international travel trade media partners are an essential conduit through which to advertise, garner press coverage and promote the show through both print and online mediums.This is #myATMstory. With over 37,000 travel industry professionals heading to Dubai for four days of interaction, we’d love to hear yours!By Fiona Ashton• Fiona Ashton is the marketing manager of ATM.