Reed Exhibitions, organizer of the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) showcase in Dubai, announced the return of Arabian Travel Week (ATW) between 16-26 May 2021.
“This week-long festival of events is dedicated to travel professionals from all over world, to collaborate and shape the recovery of the Middle East travel industry, through exhibitions, conferences, breakfast briefings, awards, product launches and networking events,” Danielle Curtis, exhibition director ME, Arabian Travel Market.
“Essentially, Arabian Travel Week will provide a pivotal platform for the region’s travel and tourism industry, whether participating in-person at the events or virtually, over the course of 10 days – it will put a spotlight on Dubai, the UAE, GCC and of course the wider MENA region’s tourism sector,” she added.
Now in its 28th year and working in collaboration with Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), ATM 2021 will play an integral role in Arabian Travel Week.
“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 Curtis.
There will also be an array of high-profile keynote speakers and world-class technology experts lined up for the Travel Forward Theatre, providing industry-leading insights and discussing 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.
“This year’s theme of ‘A New Dawn for Travel and Tourism’ has never been more relevant nor important – this message of recovery will be integrated into all of the show verticals and planned activities,” added Curtis.
To complement the four-day in-person show, for the first time, 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.
“It is imperative that we include a virtual element to Arabian Travel Week because many industry professionals from around the world may not be able to attend the in-person event for 2021. Indeed, it would also be impossible for us, at this moment in time, to even begin to speculate on how effective the vaccine rollout will be and subsequently when governments around the world will start to withdraw their travel restrictions,” said Curtis.
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.
