Future for Tourism Attractions in 2021 and Beyond discussed at ATM Virtual 2021
Douglas Quinby shared exclusive Arival research carried out with 1500 respondents on the outlook for tours, activities, attractions, and key trends.
- Arival survey identified key trends such as online bookings, virtual tours, self-guided experience as shaping the future for tours, activities and attractions
- The outlook for the recovery of the sector expected to be hyper-local and specific to destination and segment, according to Arival research
- Emaar Entertainments CEO Zeina Dagher shared where attraction development, distribution, and guest experience is headed in 2021 and beyond
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Worth $254 billion in 2019, the tours, activities, and attractions segment of travel and tourism is not just the third-largest part of travel; it is why people travel in the first place. During the virtual element of the 28thedition ofArabian Travel Market (ATM),Arival's Co-Founder and CEO Douglas Quinby shared exclusive Arival research carried out with 1500 respondents on the outlook for tours, activities, attractions, and key trends shaping the sector's revival post-COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the research, although Global Gross Bookings in tours, activities, and attractions in 2020 were down by 80%, which is hardly a surprise, the impact of the downturn was uneven with mixed experiences across regions and variations from market to market.
Arival's research identified that almost all operators (99%) implemented health and safety measures and that in a sector that previously lagged 10-15 years behind the travel and tourism industry in digitisation, there has been rapid adoption of technologies for online booking. Virtual tours were also a popular way for platforms to try and stay connected to their customers and generate some revenue. However, only 16% of operators tried to launch virtually, with mixed results. The research also found that as travel resumes, self-guided tours and experiences will become a viable alternative to large group experiences.
Addressing delegates online duringATM Virtual 2021, Quinby said:"This sector of travel will come back, as will the rest of the travel and tourism industry. However, as much as the impact of the downturn has been uneven for the sector, so will the recovery. What we expect to see is that recovery is hyper-local and very specific to destination and segment."
Meanwhile, Emaar Entertainment's CEO Zeina Dagher, who is responsible for the strategy of some of Dubai's top attractions, including the Dubai AquariumandUnderwater Zoo, KidZania, and Burj Khalifa, shared how attractions have adapted to the downturn and where attraction development, distribution, and guest experience is headed in 2021 and beyond.
"2020 has been a year of unexpected change and the unknown. However, as an organisation, we have come out of it stronger and ready for 2021 and beyond,"Dagher said."The speed at which we came together as a team to tackle the crisis was instrumental to our recovery. We have had to completely shift the way we work in terms of marketing, operations and pricing to offer much more value from our attractions and also to ensure the health and safety of our guests. Our diversity now is our strength, and our focus is more on our domestic tourism market and the residents of the UAE."
Elsewhere on the agenda on the ATM Virtual 2021, hoteliers from ACCOR, Mantis Collection, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Red Carnation Hotels convened at The ATM Hotel Industry Summit to explain how they've adapted to the super-acceleration of global wellness and sustainability movements, evolving their hotels and services to respond to overwhelming traveller demand for health and wellbeing solutions and sustainable practices that support the environment and local communities.
This was followed by two separate airline leadership keynote interviews, which focused on seizing new opportunities and moving ahead despite the crippling effects of the pandemic. In the first interview, Air Arabia Group's CEO Adel Ali discussed how he is managing the crisis whilst still keeping an eye on opportunities. Meanwhile, the second interview featured flydubai's CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith, where he shared how he envisions flydubai's development and evolution in the years ahead and explored likely network growth, product developments, and the deepening and evolving partnership with Emirates.
Other sessions include insights and tools for COVID-19 safe recovery, how the lack of international travel has affected the regional FB scene, the increasing importance of responsible hospitality, and the technology that will drive a more sustainable future for travel.
"Sustainability in travel and tourism has been a major focus at ATM over the years, but now, more than ever, concerns about the travel industry's impact on the environment are becoming one of the defining issues for the sector for future generations,"saidDanielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market."This session highlights how technology and sustainability will converge to ensure a vibrant and responsible future for travel."
For those unable to attend the in-person event that took place last week at the Dubai World Trade Centre, ATM 2021 Virtual continues on Wednesday 26 May giving the opportunity to view sessions recorded from the in-person event, as well as participate in a range of webinars, live conference sessions, roundtables, speed networking events, destination briefings, as well as make new connections in one-to-one meetings.
The third day of ATM Virtual on Wednesday 26 May, will include highlights such as Cultural Tourism for Growth and Responsible Technology for TravelandTourism sessions, as well as the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Conference taking place at 2 pm to 5:45 pm GST, with the theme, Ready.Safe.Travel.
The Middle East Tourism Investment Summit organised by ITIC in partnership with Arabian Travel Market 2021 will also take place virtually on 27 May.
To view the ATM Virtual live and demand sessions, please registerhere. If you are already registered, simply clickhere.
For the full virtual conference programme, please visit:https://bit.ly/34fDJWl
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About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 28th year, continues to be the focal point for the Middle East's 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. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week.www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html#IdeasArriveHere
In-person event: Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May 2021, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai
Virtual event: Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 May 2021
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About Arabian Travel Week
Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2021. It includes ATM Virtual,Arival Dubai and Travel Forward a new travel tech and hospitality innovation event launching this year. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums,the International Travel Investment Conference (ITIC) Summit, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) forum, as well as the Saudi and China Summits. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle Easts travel and tourism sector, Arabian Travel Week will take place in Dubai from Sunday 16thto Thursday 26th May 2021. www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html
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About Reed Exhibitions Global
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 400 events in 22 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants.Our events leverage industry expertise, large data sets and technology to enable our customers to connect face-to-face or digitally and 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-based analytics for professional and business customers.www.reedexhibitions.com
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About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalisation is approximately33bn,39bn,$47bn.*
*Note: Current market capitalisation can be found athttp://www.relx.com/investors
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market(WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events, online portals and virtual platforms 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.
Next event: Monday 1 November to 3 November 2021 at ExCel London
WTM Virtual,is the 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 embrace the global leading travel shows in one platform.
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: Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 August 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.
Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Townhttp://africa.wtm.com/
Aashif Shaikh
Mumbai, India