Today marks the final day of the 30th edition of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) which took place over 1–4 May 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). It is estimated that over 34,000 visitors flocked to the Travel & Tourism Trade Show over the course of the four-day event. With 2000 exhibitors, ATM organizers say that exhibitor numbers are up 27 percent on last year’s show. There were several announcements and revelations stemming from the Trade Show, and The Travel Consigliere has rounded up some of the key highlights and takeaways.
UAE Tourism Recovery
The overarching messaging over the course of the event was that the global cost of living crisis has not stopped high demand for inbound travel to UAE. Despite high inflation and shocks to oil prices impacting consumer demand globally, tourism and hospitality leaders said the sector was exceeding expectations during challenging times. Booking.com Vice President and Managing Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Carlo Olejniczak believes this has shown that the tourism industry is much more resilient than most first thought. Highlighting this recovery, Dubai hotels have registered a 83 percent occupancy rate for Q1 2023, almost on par with the 84 percent occupancy recorded in Q1 2019 pre-Covid-19 pandemic. This is despite Dubai having registered a 26 percent increase in room capacity since 2019. The Emirate has also welcomed more than 4.67 million international visitors during Q1 2023, a 17 percent increase year-on-year (YoY) growth.
UAE Future Tourism Goals
UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid recapped UAE’s tourism goals when he visited ATM Day 1, outlining the country’s ambitions to attract 40 million hotel guests by 2031 and increase the tourism sector’s contribution to it’s GDP to AED 450 billion. The UAE will seek to cement its status as a top 10 global tourism destination by attracting Dh100bn in additional tourism investments.
Zeroing in on Abu Dhabi, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) announced at ATM that they have immediate targets to attract 24 million visitors by the end of 2023, 6 million more than 18 million visitors the Emirate received in 2022. DCT Abu Dhabi Undersecretary Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani said the ambitious target is to build on the healthy growth last year earned through powerful partnerships and collaborations. They have continued to build partnerships, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jordan Tourism Board to exchange knowledge and market insights in order to advance tourism.
Sustainability in Tourism
ATM heavily focused on sustainability, which made sense given UAE announcing 2023 as the ‘Year of Sustainability’ and hosting COP28 later on this year,. A number of the talks at the Global Stage focused on cutting carbon emissions. According to Sustainable Travel International, tourism is responsible for 8 percent of global carbon emissions from transport, food and beverage, accommodation and related goods and services. ATM also featured a Sustainability Hub for the first time in the show’s history, dedicated to the latest sustainable travel trends and innovations.
Etihad Airways and Emirates to let passengers fly on same ticket at no extra cost
The greatest linkup since Shak and Kobe? Etihad Airways and Emirates signed a MoU expanding their interline agreement at ATM 2023 which will enable customers to land in Dubai but leave from Abu Dhabi, or vice versa and there will be no extra airfare for the service. For example, someone flying from London can choose to land in Dubai with Emirates and then fly out of Abu Dhabi with Etihad on the way back. It is expected that this agreement will offer travelers to opportunity to explore the UAE and save time not having to go back to their arrival airport. Experts have said they anticipate this will be a significant boost to inter-emirate travel, with Ahmed Soliman, Managing Director of Travel Connections Arabia (TCA) believing it will boost international tourists in major UAE entertainment venues and parks.
GCC ‘Schengen’ style visa on the way?
During an Arabian Travel Market panel, the Bahraini Minister of Tourism Fatima Al Sairafi said discussions have been taking place at the ministerial level among GCC nations on how to achieve a unified single visa. The this ‘Schengen-style” visa for tourists is expected to boost revenues and footfall for all countries in the region. Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of Saudi Tourism Authority believes that travelers don’t necessarily think of a country but a region and drawing on how Saudi Arabia greatly benefited from FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Tourism the New Oil
“The world in the 1920s came to Saudi for oil, now the world will come in the 2020s for tourism. Tourism is the new oil”
Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin
Over in Saudi Arabia, they are declaring Tourism to be the new oil rush! Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin said “The world in the 1920s came to Saudi for oil, now the world will come in the 2020s for tourism. Tourism is the new oil”. This comes as travel exceeds expectations in Saudi, especially domestic travel, leading the Saudi Tourism Authority to increase the 100 million visitor target it set as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 programme. Saudi is also planning a major expansion of its hospitality sector according to global property consultancy Knight Frank, which will add up to 315,000 hotel rooms by 2030. This move would give Saudi Arabia the highest accommodation levels in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a hotel room inventory greater than the current 140,000 hotel rooms available in Dubai.
Be Prepared For Rush of Chinese Tourists
Experts believe Dubai hospitality industry needs to be ready for the influx of Chinese tourists, following the country’s reopening following years of COVID-19 related travel restrictions. A CNN report suggests that the Chinese outbound market would recover to around six million per month by the summer of 2023. Following this, William Harley-Fleming, Vice President of Operations JA Resorts, told ATM attendees that they are being aggressive with being China-ready. For the UAE, it is predicted the number of visitors from China would swell to tens of thousands in the first quarter of 2023, boosted by direct flights to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
NBA Abu Dhabi is back
It’s official; Ant-Man and KAT vs Luka and Kyrie (well – probably not Kyrie). The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) announced that the NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 will feature the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves playing two preseason games at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 are part of a multiyear collaboration between the NBA and DCT Abu Dhabi that in 2022 saw the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks play the league’s first games in the Arabian Gulf.
The Travel Consigliere 
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