Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021 has reconfirmed that Dubai will host the world’s largest in-person travel & tourism event, since the onset of the pandemic last year.
ATM 2021, now in its 28th year, will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from Sunday, May 16 to May 19, as final arrangements are made.
Mr. Claude Blanc, Portfolio Director, WTM& IBTM Portfolios remarked that “the theme of this year’s show is ‘A new dawn for travel and tourism and the spotlight will be focused on the very latest ‘COVID’ news from around the world vaccine rollouts, the current state of the industry and more importantly, what the future holds.”
ATM 2021 will feature 67 conference sessions with a total of 145 local, regional, and international speakers. A Global Stage will be set up on-site, with a hotel industry summit, dedicated buyer forums for Saudi Arabia and China, the International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC), an aviation panel, and a special session on Gulf-Israeli relations.
Travel Forward at ATM, which has world-class technology experts offering industry-leading perspectives on the latest technologies and patterns that will inevitably form the future of travel and tourism, will be another feature this year.
A total of 62 countries are being represented on the exhibition floor this year such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Germany, Cyprus, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Maldives, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, and the US.
ATM 2021 will take place in nine halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre. There will be 11,000 people in the halls at any given time, by current density limits and social distancing guidelines and regulations.
Arabian Travel Week, is a 10-day festival of travel and tourism events held in Dubai and online. In addition to the in-person Arabian Travel Market event, the travel events that are part of Arabian Travel Week are: travel technology exhibition Travel Forward, ARIVAL Dubai for the tours and attractions sector, GBTA’s half-day virtual business travel conference, ITIC’s Middle East Tourism Investment Summit, speed networking events for digital influencers and regionally focused buyer groups including China, and of course ATM Virtual, the online edition of the ATM exhibition.
For the first time in ATM history, this year’s hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM that will run a week later to complement and reach a broader audience than ever before. ATM Virtual, which debuted last year and attracted 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries, was a huge success.
Ms. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director Middle East, Arabian Travel Market pointed out that “We must include a virtual element, many industry professionals from around the world, may not be able to attend in-person every year, particularly this year with travel restrictions changing rapidly around the globe. Due to Dubai’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety and its effective citywide management of the pandemic, it was awarded a ‘Safe Travels’ stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).”
Safe Journey
From arrival to departure, Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world to visit, with a variety of precautionary measures in place to ensure the safety of visitors at every stage and touchpoint of their journey. In the UAE, over 10.6 million doses have now been administered, which is a significant achievement.
Dubai Tourism as the Destination Partner, Emaar Hospitality Group as the Official Hotel Partner, Emirates as the Official Airline Partner, and The Vision as the Official Destination Management Partner Mr. Issam Kazim are among ATM 2021’s strategic partners.
Dr. Ali bin Zaid Abu Monassar, Chairman, The Vision Destination Management, added that ” we all have been largely affected by the current situation, particularly our segment. But, once again, we had tangible reassurance on our way to deal with future trends, opportunities, and challenges. Since its establishment, The Vision Destination Management embarked on a model which is a mix of flexibility, creativity, and focused solutions adapting to ever-changing situations. We are resilient and optimistically preparing future steps based on our skills, contacts, and experience.”
