Dubai Tourism authorities, hotels and other hospitality players will for the first time since the Arab Spring broke out come together at this year's Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the Middle East's largest travel and tourism event, to be held in Dubai next week.
It is no surprise that the Arab Spring will dominate the four-day event kicking off on April 30 as its key theme. Besides covering other aspects of the tourism industry, the focus will clearly be on driving the region's tourism growth going forward.
As UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai recently pointed out at the World Travel Market (WTM): "The Arab Spring has had an effect on the whole world of travel, and while we are passing through difficult times, they are also exciting times as tourism is the oil that never runs out."
Major tourism markets in the Middle East such as Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon and others suffered huge setbacks from the geo-political tensions in the region last year. And this year will see most of them trying to regain the lost [tourism] revenue.
A special panel at ATM dedicated to the Arab Spring will see the tourism ministers of Egypt and Jordan, along with other tourism and hotel executives come together to discuss ways to fight the challenge.
"With unrest sweeping much of the Middle East last year, the UAE saw an influx of tourism which boosts its status as a safe haven in the region," Mark Walsh, group exhibition director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organisers of the event, said. He added that the tourism market in Dubai is picking up now and consequently a number of hotel developers are restarting projects they put on hold in 2009 as a result of the downturn.
"We think that 2012 will be a positive year for the UAE because we see further growth due to the increasing demand, especially from new or until now the ‘neglected' source markets," George Mousa, chairman of Planet Group, said. He added that the trend to promote the UAE as "one destination" will help to make the overall offer of companies' services more interesting by focusing more on different options and through the "combined efforts of both government and companies".
Meanwhile, hoteliers in all the emirates are expecting to attract guests from across the markets to raise occupancies and revenues — within the region as well as outside.
"Since the first quarter of this year, all the hotels are enjoying very good business that shows a lot of interest from different markets. Inbound business is progressing very well this year, and therefore the exhibition will help us keep our momentum high for the rest of the year," Iftikhar Hamdani, general manager, Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman, said.
Tourism destinations in the Middle East and around the world will treat the ATM as a platform to showcase a diverse range of holiday and hotel packages and deals, various tourism attractions and new airline routes.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists heading to the UAE this year is expected to reach almost nine million, according to the latest industry figures, marking a healthy increase over the 8.2 million that arrived last year.
This year's event will see 82 new exhibitors from last year, totalling 2,400 exhibitors, and a 46 per cent increase in visitors, besides 54 national pavilions and 87 countries represented, according to the organisers.
