EVENTS: Arabian Travel Market’s future vision

Arabian Travel Market, the Middle East’s biggest travel show is back from May 6-9, 2024, bringing with it a wealth of insight and opportunity for those in the travel sector.

This year’s edition will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre, with a central theme of Empowering Innovation – Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship, in which the fair will shine a spotlight on the innovators reshaping the sector.

For over three decades, Arabian Travel Market has had one central goal – to unlock business potential for the travel trade industry. The 31st edition continues its mission to offer insight into the global travel and tourism growth and share knowledge and opportunities with travel professionals, entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers from around the world.

“The Middle East’s travel and tourism sector has demonstrated impressive resilience and growth in recent years, but we must continue to innovate and adapt in order to achieve the industry’s long-term goals,” says Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market. “Thanks to ATM 2024’s theme, ‘Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship’, we have a golden opportunity to showcase expert insights, cutting-edge technologies and commercial opportunities with the potential to completely reshape the sector.”

With the global travel market value projected to pass $1 trillion over the next four years, ATM 2024 will also focus on topics that explore the full spectrum of the travel and tourism industry, looking beyond leisure to business, luxury and MICE, whilst looking at how innovative sustainable travel trends will evolve and identify strategies for growth within specific key vertical sectors.

“Holidaymakers represent a crucial focus for the Middle East’s travel community, but leisure is only one component of a much bigger picture,” adds Danielle. “Business, luxury and MICE travel are also making significant contributions to economic growth and sustainable development, with Statista predicting a global market volume of more than $1 trillion by 2027. It is therefore no surprise that the travel and tourism sector is creating unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors, thousands of whom will showcase their innovations, exchange ideas and forge new partnerships at ATM 2024.”

ATM 2023 brought together over 40,000 travel trade professionals, including 30,000 visitors, setting a new show record, and attracted more than 21,000 exhibitors and representatives from over 155 countries. This year’s event looks set to be even bigger, with the four days comprising meet-and-greet sessions, seminars, panel discussions. “As a global leader in innovation, the UAE offers the perfect environment in which to explore these trends and identify new avenues for growth,” says Danielle. “Following the record-breaking levels of attendance witnessed during ATM 2023, my colleagues and I cannot wait to welcome the global travel community to Dubai once again this year.”