The 28th edition of the Arabian Travel Market 2021 will take place live at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May, 2021.

Working in collaboration with DWTC and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), the theme of the show will be: “A new dawn for travel and tourism.” The show will cast a spotlight on the current state of the industry and, more importantly, what the future holds. It will also focus on the emerging trends and how innovation can drive the industry forward.

ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa’s tourism sectors, welcomed almost 40,000 people to its 2019 event, with representation from 150 countries. 

This week-long festival of events is dedicated to travel professionals from all over the world, to collaborate and shape the recovery of the Middle East’s travel industry through exhibitions, conferences, breakfast briefings, awards, product launches and networking events. 

“There will be a whole host of in-person seminars on ATM’s show floor specifically designed to support, inspire and innovate all travel and tourism professionals, looking at the latest trends in technology, sustainability and profiling the next generation of global travelers,” said Danielle Curtis, exhibition director ME, Arabian Travel Market.

Hotels throughout the Middle East region are preparing to capitalize on the pent-up global demand for workations, driven mainly by the social restrictions imposed by governments across the world over the past 10 months.

Curtis said: “The hotel industry in the Middle East has gradually started to recover, especially in places such as Dubai. Staycations created the initial demand after lockdown; the next step has been the continued growth of workations — also referred to as bleisure stays — which tend to bring in more visitors from overseas.”

“Longer term, the “on-the-go” executive will be a far more common sight in hotels, whether it’s Gen Z singletons, millennial professionals or freelancers who can earn a living from a laptop,” added Curtis.

With over 50 percent of the world’s working population doing so from home and the rise of entrepreneurial digital nomads who prefer to work remotely, the popularity of workations is only expected to increase. This will alleviate the boredom of living and working from home, even after Covid-19 is a distant memory. In the short term, it will provide much needed revenue to not only hotels but to the travel trade in general, not to mention government coffers.

There will also be an array of high-profile keynote speakers and world-class technology experts at the Travel Forward Theatre, providing industry-leading insights and discussions around the latest technologies and trends that will shape the future of travel.

Other notable features of Arabian Travel Week and in-person at ATM include ILTM Arabia 2021, buyer forums with networking dedicated to key source markets including Saudi Arabia, India and China, a hotel summit, the responsible tourism program and the International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC) summit.

To complement the four-day in-person show, a new hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM running a week after to reach a wider audience than ever before. ATM Virtual, which made its debut last year, proved to be a resounding success, attracting 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries.

ATM Virtual will feature comprehensive webinars, live conference sessions, roundtables, speed networking events, virtual digital influencers’ speed networking session, one-to-one meetings, destination briefings as well as facilitating new connections and offering a wide range of online business opportunities.

A highlight on Arabian Travel Week’s agenda and part of ATM Virtual is Arival Dubai @ ATM. This event will feature a series of sessions covering current and future trends for operators of tours and attractions. Douglas Quinby, CEO of Arival, said: “Arabian Travel Market has long been the event that gathers the global travel community around the Middle East, and its role in the revival of our industry is more important than ever. We are partnering with ATM to create a special virtual forum that assembles leading voices from tours and attractions as well as technology innovators from across the region to help our industry chart a path of resilience and resurgence in 2021 and beyond.”

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization, will also be participating at ATM Virtual for the first time. The GBTA will deliver the latest business travel content, research and education to drive the post-pandemic recovery and support growth in business travel.