Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organiser of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) has announced its 2010 seminar programme has doubled to meet enhanced demand.
With the objective of ensuring ATM visitors and participants are up-to-date with the latest industry news and trends, the 2010 seminar programme will include up to 25 free-to-attend sessions and will, for the first time, be spread across two rooms - the Single Seminar room and a stand-alone Debate Room.
“Based on strong demand and industry feedback we have decided to enhance ATM’s seminar programme,” said Lucie James, marketing manager, Reed Travel Exhibitions. “As the industry looks to the future, we feel the unique insights and the key trends the seminars discuss are more crucial than ever as we take important steps towards a successful recovery.”
The Single Seminar room will host an array of industry leaders to engage in in-depth discussions on a range of topics such as luxury tourism, hospitality, new business generation, online customer engagement and many more. The introduction of the Debate Room will allow experts from various fields such as cruise tourism, value travel, sports tourism and aviation to participate in high-brow panel question and answer sessions.
“This year’s seminar programme has been designed to ignite discussion and debate among industry peers and provides an invaluable resource that allows travel and tourism trade professionals to discuss key issues and shape the sector’s future,’” added James.
Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, a private non-profit organisation whose mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in the emirate, is one of the official sponsors of this year’s seminar programme.
Also sponsoring the programme is Travel and Tourism News Middle East (TTN), the region’s number one travel trade publication Hamad Buamim, director general, Dubai Chamber, said: “ATM is one of the major tools in supporting Dubai and its vibrant tourism sector and comes directly in line with the chamber’s mission of representing, supporting and protecting the interests of the business community in Dubai and in promoting the emirate as an international business hub.
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“The participation of our members from the Dubai Travel and Tour Agents Group (DTTAG) will help them exchange expertise with their global counterparts and benefit from their experiences as the seminar is an ideal platform to discuss and promote the development of this important economic sector.”
Kim Thompson publishing director of TTN commented “TTN is proud to be the sponsor of ATM’s seminar programme once again for 2010. As the programme continues to receive positive feedback due to it covering a wide range of topics relevant to the travel industry, we will proudly continue to be associated with this initiative, which provokes interaction between guests and speakers.”
Another new initiative introduced for ATM this year is a series of marketing seminars known as ‘Ask the Experts’ designed to help companies market themselves effectively in the current challenging climate, including a step by
step guide from experienced marketers who will explain the importance of PR, social media and SMS marketing.
A number of other initiatives will be returning this year, reaffirming ATM’s continued commitment to investing in content.
New to the 2010 edition will be ‘Zone 8’, which provides a more relaxed area for informal networking. Providing increased opportunities to interact with various destinations first hand through a series of live shows, ‘Zone 8’ will also serve to showcase new destinations and products.
Destination and company sign-up for the ATM 2010, which is running at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 4 to 7, currently stands at 99 per cent. Exhibitors from six continents will be in attendance, with most previous exhibitors returning, and more than 60 new exhibiting companies.
In 2009, 2,100-plus companies from across the world participated at ATM, with an increase of more than five per cent travel trade professionals and a 6.5 per cent increase in visitors. In attendance last year were 146 hosted buyers from the premium leisure industry, the golf sector and from the meetings industry – up from 120 the previous year.
The Arabian Travel Market is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the auspices of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.