ATM Advisory Board Goes Digital

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 10 May 2020:Arabian Travel Market(ATM), recently hosted the first digital ATM Advisory Board meeting with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism and hospitality industry dominating the discussion.

The Board will continue to provide guidance on industry themes, challenges, growth opportunities and future strategies in the Middle East travel and tourism sector, however, this will now be set against a backdrop of COVID-19 and how the industry can adapt to the new norm.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: The Advisory Board is a cross section of industry leaders who provide an insight based on firsthand experience of the trends impacting the tourism industry. Their knowledge ensures ATM continues to act as a voice for the industry by providing support and direction during these difficult times.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the travel and tourism industry, like many others, to a halt, with very little indication of when the recovery will begin. It is therefore imperative we continue to listen and understand where we are as an industry, what the future could potentially look like and what we can do to work together to aid the recovery when it comes. ATM continues to play a crucial role in supporting the industry to achieve this.

The meeting addressed the impact COVID-19 will have on the international trade show arena through discussions focused on the key learnings from businesses during the pandemic and the resulting changes to the industry. It also provided an insight into the new normal for the tourism industry, and the approach to dealing with new social distancing measures, reliance on domestic tourism and the impact of airline restrictions.

Three phases of recovery were identified during the discussion. Phase one will focus on domestic travel and the local market, the second phase will be regional travel, and finally the international market when borders begin to open again.

It was also agreed social distancing, health, hygiene, and safety will be prioritised over offerings, for those who want to travel. To that effect, hotels will be subject to full sanitisation and the implementation of complete social distancing in restaurants and at all public facilities.

It is anticipated customers will also demand more information on the way hotels or restaurants support and re-educate staff on, amongst others, the way tables are serviced or the implementation of new house-keeping procedures. This is underscoring a need for an overhaul of the entire marketing, product development and service offerings to change, to give confidence to the consumer.

Recovery was discussed with the overarching consensus indicating this will depend on how the situation evolves, with emphasis placed on listening, market research and insights while maintaining an element of flexibility so the industry can adapt as the situation develops.

To support the industry, the organisers of ATM have announced the launch of ATM Virtual, a three-day event delivering positive business and networking opportunities to the regions vast travel and tourism community. Taking place from 1-3 June 2020, the event will feature comprehensive webinars, live conference sessions, roundtables, speed networking events, one-to-one meetings, as well as facilitating new connections and offering a wide range of online business opportunities.

Board attendees included:

Al Mohannad Sharafuddin, Founder and Chairman, Arabian Falcon FZ LLC

Chris Newman, Chief Operating Officer, Emaar Hospitality Group

Gregory Fuller, Director, Brand Activation, Brand Event Marketing Operations, Dubai Tourism

Haitham Mattar, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia

Jeff Strachan, Director, Dubai College of Tourism

John D. Davis, Chief Executive Officer MENA, Colliers International

John Northen, Executive Director Hotels Division, NEOM

Mark Willis, Chief Executive Officer Middle East Africa, Accor Hotels

Mohamed Awadalla, Chief Executive Officer, TIME Hotels

Mona Faraj, Founder Managing Director, Insight-Out Consultancy

Mellissa R Pitt- Chalmers, Vice President Global Sales, Middle East Africa, Marriott International, Inc

Pierric Duthoit, Sector Lead Branding Middle East North Africa, Google

Raki Phillips, Chief Executive Officer, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority

Registrations for the ATM Virtual are open. Toregister as a visitor, please clickhere. Formedia registrations, please clickhere.

About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 27^thyear, continues to be the focal point for the Middle Easts resilient and ever-changing travel and tourism landscape and prides itself on being the hub of all travel and tourism ideas providing a platform to discuss insights on the ever-changing industry, share innovations and unlock endless business opportunities. While the live show has been postponed to 16-19 May 2021, ATM will keep the industry connected by runningATM Virtual from 1-3 June 2020featuring webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, one-on-one meetings, plus so much more keeping the conversations going and delivering new connections and business opportunities online.www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.

Next events: ATM Virtual: Monday 1^stto Wednesday 3^rdJune 2020

Live ATM: Sunday 16^thto Wednesday 19^thMay 2021 Dubai #IdeasArriveHere

About Reed Exhibitions

Reed Exhibitionsis a leading global events business. It combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 500 events in almost 30 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants.

Our events, organized by 35 global offices, leverage industry expertise, large data sets and technology to enable our customers to generate billions of dollars of revenues for the economic development of local markets and national economies around the world. Reed Exhibitions is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.www.reedexhibitions.com

About Reed Travel Exhibitions

Reed Travel Exhibitionsis the worlds leading travel and tourism events organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 20 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, LGBTQ+ travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf and spa travel. We have over 35 years experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.www.reedtravelexhibitions.com

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market(WTM) Portfolio comprises nine leading travel events across four continents, generating more than $7.5 billion of industry deals. The events are:

WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating over 3.71 billion in travel industry contracts.london.wtm.com

Next event: Monday 2^ndto Wednesday 4^thNovember 2020 London #IdeasArriveHere

WTM Latin Americaattracts about 9,000 senior executives and generates about US$374 million of new business deals. Taking place in So Paulo, Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 8,000 unique visitors, including buyers and travel agents, attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news.latinamerica.wtm.com.

Next event: Tuesday 20 October to Thursday 22 October 2020 So Paulo

WTM Africalaunched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Around 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africas leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors.africa.wtm.com.

Next event: 2021 Cape Town