Emirates increases weekly schedule to Maldives & Seychelles over Easter holidays as Middle East demand soars
- Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Greek islands also preparing for summer influx of international arrivals
- Tourists attracted by easy access, reasonable restrictions, low COVID cases, good vaccination rates and a natural environment with quiet beaches
Island resorts around the world will lead the recovery in leisure travel, according to research carried out ahead ofArabian Travel Market (ATM)2021, which will be in a hybrid format, with the in-person event taking place on 16-19 May at the Dubai World Trade Centre and the virtual event to be held the following week, on 24-26 May.
Many island economies are dependent on tourism and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives (28% of GDP) and the Seychelles (over 55% of GDP), which are both expecting a bumper Easter holiday period. With both islands less than four hours 30 minutes away, Emirates has added an extra four flights taking its weekly schedule to 28 flights.
Meanwhile, Air Seychelles is launching a weekly flight to Dubai to cope with the increased demand, which is in addition to two extra flights a week that Emirates is adding to its existing schedule of five weekly flights to Mahe.
"Both islands tick all of the proverbial boxes for tourists,"saidDanielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market."Even though demand maybe pent-up, visitors will still want direct flights, easy access, reasonable restrictions, low COVID cases, good vaccination rates, open and in some cases isolated resorts, with a natural environment including quiet beaches,"added Curtis.
The Maldives is expecting to have its 500,000 inhabitants vaccinated by August and with less than 100,000 citizens, the Seychelles is hoping for 100% vaccination within the coming months.
And although both countries have a list of approved countries, the Seychelles and the Maldives only require visitors to provide a negative PCR test 72 or 96 hours respectively, prior to arrival, no proof of vaccination or quarantine is required.
"And after a standard temperature check upon arrival at the hotel, guests in the Maldives can roam freely, they only need to wear a mask indoors, with similar restrictions applicable in the Seychelles,"added Curtis.
However, many travel professionals feel that the real game changer is that both countries will accept any fully vaccinated visitors. And with the global rollout expected to accelerate, as more vaccines are approved and manufactured, island nations will be the catalyst for increased international leisure travel.
Other islands with great potential for the Middle Easts outbound market are Sri Lanka, Cyprus and the Greek islands. Emirates and Etihad operate seven flights a week to Colombo and visitors need a negative PCR test 96 hours before arrival and then two further tests within the next seven days. The Sri Lankan government aims to have the entire country of over 21 million vaccinated by the end of 2021, currently that figure stands at around 500,000.
"With three weekly flights from Dubai, Cyprus is another interesting case and from April, it will welcome Israeli tourists who have had both vaccination doses,"said Curtis.
The Greek authorities aim to vaccinate the vast majority of their 10.35 million population by this summer (more than 725,000 have been vaccinated so far) to help revive their tourism sector and again Greece is well connected with five weekly flights between Dubai and Athens.
Exhibitors from island territories participating at ATM this year include the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, Greek National Tourism Organisation, Cyprus Ministry of Tourism, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, Philippines Department of Tourism and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, among others.
Now in its 28thyear and working in collaboration with DWTC and Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing(DTCM), the theme of ATM 2021 will be'A new dawn for travel and tourism'.
ATM 2021's strategic partners include Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) as Destination Partner, Emaar Hospitality Group as Official Hotel Partner and Emirates as Official Airline Partner.
Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world to visit with a wide range of precautionary measures in place to ensure the safety of tourists at every stage and touchpoint of their travel journey, from arrival to departure.
Dubai's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of hygiene and safety and its effective citywide management of the pandemic receiveda strong endorsement from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which gave the city a'Safe Travels'stamp.
If you are planning to attend ATM in-person, please feel free to post using the hashtag#ImGoingtoATM.
Registrations for ATM 2021 are open. To register, go tohttps://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb/enquire.html
For more news about ATM, please visit:https://hub.wtm.com/category/press/atm-press-releases/
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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
Next in-person event: Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May 2021, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai
Next 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, the Travel Agents Academy, The ATM Influencers day, the Digital Influencer Speed Networking and Travel Forward a new travel tech and hospitality innovation event launching this year. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums,ATM Speed Networking Events as well as The Saudi, India 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.
Next event: Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 April 2021 Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Townhttp://africa.wtm.com/
Aashif Shaikh
Mumbai, India