Middle East Hotels Ready to Capitalise on Workation Trend, says ATM

• On the go'bleisure stays increasingly popular with Gen Z singletons, white collar millennials and other digital nomads

Hotels throughout the Middle East region are preparing to capitalise on the pent-up global demand for workations, driven in the main by the social restrictions imposed by governments across the world over the past ten months.

According to research conducted as well as commissioned by Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organiser ofArabian Travel Market (ATM),many travel experts are expecting a surge in workations in 2021 and beyond, a trend that was apparent in 2019, but one which now has such pent-up demand due to the coronavirus travel restrictions.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, which will take place live at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) 16-19 May 2021, said:"The hotel industry in the Middle East has gradually started to recover, especially in places such as Dubai. Staycations created the initial demand after lockdown, the next step has been the continued growth of workations, which are also referred to as bleisure stays, which tend to bring in more visitors from overseas."

Fueling this growth are companies like Facebook, Twitter and Spotify which have announced that employees can work from home indefinitely, leading many experts to predict that these digital professionals are likely to work remotely, whilst still connecting safely and securely with their physical offices.

"Longer term, the'on the go'executive will be a far more common sight in hotels, whether it's Gen Z singletons, millennial professionals, or freelancers who can earn a living from a laptop,"added Curtis.

With over 50% of the worlds working population doing so from home and the rise of entrepreneurial digital nomads who prefer to work remotely, the popularity of workations will only increase.

This will alleviate the boredom of living and working from home, even after the pandemic has finally been eradicated and obviously in the short term, it will provide much needed revenue to not only hotels but the travel trade in general, not to mention government coffers.

"And on that point, as an example, Dubai has introduced a remote visa programme that would entitle visitors to stay for up to 12 months, with access to co-working spaces and government support services,"said Curtis.

To accommodate the needs of the new normal smart working traveller even further, an increasing number of hotels in the MENA region are offering pop-up co-working spaces with the aim of rethinking and making the most of the hotel space, which is no longer considered just as a place to stay, instead, it becomes a potential work environment.

"Covid-19has completely disrupted the traditional office culture and the hospitality sector has been quick to offer alternative solutions for those looking to combine working from home with leisure time.The introduction of theworkationconcept is not justanovel idea, its about making adjustments to meet the new market demands, allowing those who are not currently working from their office to enjoy a luxury hospitality experience whilst continuing their work commitments,"said Mark Kirby, COO of Emaar Hospitality.

Further afield in the Maldives for example, hotels are offering the ultimate'workation packages'where guests can work from a secluded beach house, with personal desks and high-speed WiFi. Some hotels in India have created indoor and outdoor common areas that function as work-friendly spaces, many others have opted for dedicated spaces poolside where remote workers get a table, chair and parasol, WiFi and power socket, as well as the ubiquitous sun lounger.

"Depending on the effectiveness of the vaccines being rolled out, as well as travel and other social restrictions, this demand could broaden to include families. If children are being home-schooled it would make little difference if they were at home or on a workation with their parents. Indeed, time away from long cold winter nights in northern Europe, would undoubtedly improve a familys state of mind,"added Curtis.

Now in its 28^thyear and working in collaboration with DWTC and Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing(DTCM), the theme of the show next year will be'A new dawn for travel and tourism'and the spotlight will be thrown onto the current state of the industry and more importantly, what the future holds. It will also look at the emerging trends and how innovation can drive the industry forward.

ATM 2021 will also play an integral role in Arabian Travel Week and for the first time, a new hybrid format will be in place. This means an additional virtual ATM will be organised to run the following week, which will complement the live event by accommodating visitors who may be unable to travel to Dubai. The inaugural ATM Virtual 2020, attracted 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries, over three days.

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About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 28^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.

ATM 2021 will feature, among others, Travel Forward, a high-end travel and hospitality innovation event, dedicated conference summits, ATM buyer forums and speed networking events, as well as Arival Dubai @ ATM a dedicated in-destination forum.

www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com. #IdeasArriveHere

ATM live event: Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May 2021, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai

ATM virtual event: Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 May 2021

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About Arabian Travel Week

Arabian Travel Weekis a festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2021 and ATM Virtual 2021, including ILTM Arabia and Travel Forward a new travel tech and hospitality innovation event launching this year as well as the ATM Buyer Forums and ATM Speed Networking Events. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle Easts travel and tourism sector, under one roof over the course of one week, Arabian Travel Week will be returning to Dubai World Trade Centre from Sunday 16^thMay 2021. For more information visit:arabiantravelweek.com

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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

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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, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf and spa travel. We have over 35 years experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.https://www.reedtravelexhibitions.com/

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About World Travel Market

World Travel Market(WTM) Portfolio comprises four leading B2B travel events across four continents, generating more than $7.5 billion of industry deals. The events are:

WTM Virtual,is the new WTM Portfolio virtual platform, created to offer global delegates the chance to arrange one-to-one virtual meetings, to do business, attend conference sessions and roundtables, take part in speed networking and more. WTM Virtual embraces the global leading travel shows in one platform.

Event was held Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 November 2020 Virtualhttp://london.wtm.com/

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. This year the show was fully-virtual.

Next live event is in 2021http://london.wtm.com/

WTM Latin Americaattracts around 19,000 participants 11,586 unique. The trade show, which takes place in So Paulo, has a worldwide audience that meets to establish the direction of the travel industry. The event is recognised for attracting a high level of professionals from the segment, including buyers and travel agents. It also offers programmes with qualified content and plenty of opportunities for networking and generating business that is relevant to the travel industry

Next event: Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 June 2021 Expo Center Norte, So Paulohttp://latinamerica.wtm.com/.

WTM Africalaunched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa.More than 6,000travel 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.

Next event: Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 April 2021 Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Townhttp://africa.wtm.com/.