Trade Visitors soar 25% - Consumer Figures up 85% at Arabian Travel Market 2004

The Arabian Travel Market 2004 attracted a record-breaking audience of trade visitors and consumers.

The show, held between May 4-7 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, featured over 1,400 exhibitors from 55 countries and was 30% larger in terms of occupied floor space than 2003, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), which organises the show said the growth was “unprecedented” and a vote of confidence in the industry. ATM 2004 also featured the first official pavilions from Abu Dhabi and Iran.

The record-breaking trend continued with initial unaudited registration showing some 8,606 trade visitors from 96 countries attending the show – a 25% increase on 2003, while consumer attendance soared by 85% to 8,224.

“In every aspect this was most certainly the best Arabian Travel Market yet,” said Tom Nutley, Chairman, RTE.

“What is exceptionally encouraging is the fact that the number of overseas trade visitors travelling into the show shot up by 47%. Also of key note is the number of countries from which trade professionals came – 24 more than in 2003. The additional countries stretch from Bermuda in the West to the Comores in the South and their appearance at the show demonstrates that the Arabian Travel Market is now truly international both in its exhibitors and visitor profile.”

Also recording a huge rise was the number of media attending the show – some 773 – a 13.6% increase on 2003.

“Again, of the media attending, the biggest increase came from the overseas press corps which grew 38% this year,” said Nutley.

The larger attendance also spurred brisk business with a host of companies reporting on-site deals.

The Hilton Kuwait Resort said the 2004 emphasis appeared to be largely on the MICE sector.

“It was a good show on both the business and leisure side,” said Paul Hutton, General Manager. “In addition to signing several new deals with international companies, several GCC companies have scheduled regional meetings at the resort for an average of 100 people. The hotel had been chosen for its spa and beach facilities.”

Selling holidays in the Middle East to the frozen North differentiated Sweden’s Avanda Group which operates the Ice Hotel at Lulea.

“This is our first trip to the ATM and we sold 44 bed nights and met agents whom we will evaluate before choosing up to two or three in the region to promote our hotel. It is a product which has met with a lot of interest here because it is so different from what is on offer locally and we will certainly be back to build on this next year,” said Rolan Sand of Avanda.

Ajman’s Jayasree Travels & Tours said business took off on the first day. “I took US $150,000 worth of business on the first day alone,” said P.V. Kumar, Executive Director.

Alamo/National Car Rental said response at the show could lead to double-digit growth. “I’ve had dozens of potential new deals and would expect a 25% increase in our business as a result of this show,” said Jeroen Van Der Linden, Sales Manager.

Within the first two days, the UK’s Cityspeed Tours had signed 50 new deals. “Despite the strong pound making the market difficult, the business we did in the first two days alone was up on the whole of last year,” said Ossama Elsherif, Director.

For Islands In Africa, the ATM 2004 surpassed all previous shows. “It’s been fantastic and also surprising,” said Anthony Cavill-Taylor, Owner, Islands In Africa. “I came here for the first time last year and did US $50,000 worth of business.

“This year I have tripled that and I expect it to increase further when I follow up some contacts after the show. I have a number of lodges throughout the region and expected interest from the Gulf but I’ve also had serious propositions from Syria and Europe. I go to many trade shows throughout the world and have this to be one of the best.”

For Thailand’s Marwin Tours the show sealed travel agency deals. “We have done two deals with travel agents from Kuwait which will bring about 500 tourists to Thailand and we have spoken to about 25% more agents than last year,” said Virat Chatturaputpitak, Managing Director.

Visitors spoke of tying up numerous deals across the board.

Hassan Wehbe, Executive Manager of Kuwait Galaxy Co. Tourism & Umrah Services commented: “We have tied up three new contracts in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Dubai worth in total US $3 million.”

And visitor Farah Razi, Sunny Land Tours of Iran said her fact-finding visit to the show had brought dividends. “It is my first time here. I really came to assess the show to see if it is worth us participating next year, and I think it is. However, I have also met a good number of European tour operators who now want to link up with us to promote inbound business to Iran and we will be communicating after the show to try and fully establish these new links.”

Rene Van Der Veen of Turkey’s Haping Resort Sea Garden said his visit helped penetrate a fresh market.

“This is a new area and new market for us. We have made excellent contact with tour operators from the UAE, India and Iran.”

Khaled Saleh of Jeddah’s Al Amoudi Travel Agency said he had sourced new products and made quotation requests while visiting. “It is necessary to be at ATM if you want to find new products and link up with new hotels.”

Ani Pilibossian, General Manager of Syria’s High Sky Travel Agency, said he had high business expectations following his visit.

“This is our first time at ATM and through it we are developing outbound business from the Middle East particularly to Thailand and Malaysia.”

New market openings were the key factor for visitor Fawaz Al Charif of the UAE’s Eurostar. “I’ve picked up a lot of contacts and potential deals to follow up from Oman, Europe and the Far East. There seems to be a lot of new countries coming each year, such as Tunisia, which I find very useful. It’s certainly been a successful visit for me.”

Meanwhile, RTE has begun planning for Arabian Travel Market 2005, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 3-6 as commitments for the 12th edition begin to pour in.

Austria and Spain have both said they hope to expand their pavilions while numerous private sector companies say they too are looking to grow their participation.

“This is our ninth year at ATM and we increase our space every year,” said Shirin Samper of the Spanish Tourist Office. “It has always been a very successful show for us, largely because of the range of exhibitors and visitors right across the board. It has proved to be a consistently excellent platform of us and we are looking to increase our space next year.”

Kuwait’s IFA Hotels & Resorts, which exhibited with its joint venture partner Nakheel, is one organisation planning a bigger representation.

“We felt the overall quality and presentation of the stands was superb and as testament to this we will be committing to a very large space next year,” said James Wilson, President and COO.

Also looking to increase its presence next year is Sun International Hotels and Resorts of South Africa.

“We have been coming to the show for three years now and view our presence here as absolutely vital for making inroads into the Middle East. We’ve taken group enquiries and expect to translate these into business. We are looking to increase our presence next year,” said Sun’s Ruth Hulatt.

RTE says despite the sudden surge in floor space sales this year, further growth for next year is on the cards, but at the more usual 10%-15% rate.

“We believe growth is achieveable because of all the new projects coming up in the Middle East and because regional airlines are opening new routes, which will in turn open up new markets for us,” said Nutley.

And the value of new routes was underlined at the show by Edinburgh’s Royal Garden Apartments, taking part in the show for the first time.

“The newly-launched Emirates direct flight to Glasgow convinced us to come to ATM,” said Sales Manager, Maureen Coia. “We have had a lot of enquiries and are set to sign about half a dozen one month stays at the hotel for corporate customers. The quality of customer is very good and we have also had a lot of success by going into the Middle East hall and finding customers, as well as meeting them at our stand. We shall certainly be back next year.”