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ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET EXCEEDS POST-SEPTEMBER 11 EXPECTATIONS 700 EXHIBITORS FROM 56 COUNTRIES TO PACK NEW AIRPORT EXPO VENUE
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), organiser of Arabian Travel Market the Middle East's premier travel and tourism show which opens at the Airport Expo Dubai tomorrow for the ninth in the annual series, says this year's event has surpassed all of its post September 11th expectations.

"Despite what has been a very difficult period for the international travel industry, over 700 exhibitors from 56 countries have contracted for the show," said Tom Nutley, Managing Director, RTE. 

"This result demonstrates the resilience of this industry and we view it as a positive sign that the sector is now truly rebounding. We are particularly encouraged that the show has managed to expand its geographic exhibitor spread as well as product range." 

Arabian Travel Market 2002 will, for the first time, have official participation from Algeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Korea and Greece. The show will feature 212 stands 68 of which are Arabian Travel Market newcomers and will cover 8,500 square metres. 

The show also has its first exhibitor from Senegal and its debut participation by the Palestine National Authority. 

"In pure space terms the show is 2% bigger this year than last so yet again it is the largest Arabian Travel Market on record," said Nutley. 

"Originally, and in line with past performance, we had targeted double-digit growth. However, we revised our targeted downwards after September 11 and focussed our efforts on client retention, working closely with the industry to maintain the success of this important annual gathering. Following the lowering of targets we honestly did not anticipate any growth so the 2% increased floor space we regard as something of an achievement given the difficult industry conditions of the past nine months."

Growth has resulted from an influx of new-to-market suppliers and expansion by regular participants including the British Tourist Authority, Cyprus, Switzerland, Slovakia, France and Turkey. 

"European participation has held up well," said Nutley. "Most of the outbound sector appears to be as keen as ever on this region. This is not surprising when you realise that GCC travellers, in particular those from Kuwait, have been prioritised by the World Tourism and Travel Council as among the Arab World's largest per capita spenders on overseas tourism. And that has to be viewed against a background of some 20 million Arab tourists travelling abroad annually according to pre-September 11th intelligence. 

"The Far East and Africa are also well represented. The only area not to have lived up to our pre-September 11 expectations is the USA, where the travel industry's focus has become more domestic." 

The show has also attracted an influential lobby of industry leaders from 11 countries due to attend the official opening of Arabian Travel Market 2002, which is held under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister and organised under the auspices of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Government of Dubai. 

"These VIP delegations include the tourism ministers of Niger, India, Tunisia, Kerala and Goa," said Nutley. "Also attending our the heads of official tourism bodies from Fujairah, Qatar, Korea, Moscow and Jakarta." 

Product diversification is a hallmark of this year’s exhibitor profile, which boasts 45 official destination authorities and 13 international, regional and domestic airlines. 

"The full spectrum of the tourism industry will be represented from accommodation providers, car rental and, for the first time, luxury yacht cruises. The good news for industry visitors is that the product profile is more comprehensive than ever, thereby opening up more business opportunities both inbound and outbound."

Past year 59% of Arabian Travel Market visitors polled said they attended the show with the specific aim of finding new products or developments. "Specialist services, such as yachting were also listed by trade visitors as one area they want to see more of," said Nutley. 

Middle East participation in Arabian Travel Market is stronger than ever this year with 258 exhibitors from the region ? an increase of 10% on last year. 

"Numerous regional exhibitors have substantially increased the size of their participation, most notably Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and Morocco," said Nutley. 

"The increase in Middle East participation we view as a result of the fact that intra-regional travel has been sustained despite the international travel downturn and many countries are now prioritising it as never before." 

Nutley says Middle East participation in Arabian Travel Market is expected to increase further in the years to come following a bullish report from the World Trade and Tourism Council (WTTC), which says capital investment in the region's travel and tourism sector this year will reach US $11.3 billion. 

"The WTTC believes all the signs are good with the sector likely to generate US $95.1 billion in economic activity in the Middle East this year, growing to US $180.7 billion by 2012," said Nutley. 

ATM exhibitors this year will have access to some of the GCC’s leading travel buyers with a number of the region's top purchasers being invited onto the show's special hosted buyer programme. 

"Twenty travel buyers from Saudi Arabia, as well as 50 of the world's key incentive decision-makers, from Australia, Europe, India, Scandinavia and the USA will be hosted," said Nutley. "They will meet exhibitors in buyer-meet-supplier sessions on the first day of the show. These meetings take place in privacy and comfort and, because exhibitors have selected, in advance, the buyers they most want to meet, they are extremely productive. 

"As with 2001, the MICE market is the focus of our hosted buyer programme due to industry demand and research among exhibitors." 

Hosted buyers will stay at the recently-opened, five-star Fairmont Dubai hotel. 

RTE says it's is also hoping to at least maintain last year's visitor turnout record when 6,366 trade professionals, 4,420 consumers and 476 media representatives attended. 

"Currently pre-registrations are running on a par with 2001 so all the signs are that we can achieve last year's performance if not beat it," added Nutley. 

"So far media from 26 countries have registered to attend the show ? media from 14 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the Far East are part of a hosted programme run by Emirates airline with accommodation provided by the Fairmont Hotel, Dubai." 

New show attractions this year include an upgraded on-site educational seminar programme, which will run over May 8 and 9. 

Topics to be presented include: ‘How To Trap The Asian MICE Market;’ ‘Marketing To American Associations and Corporations;’ ‘Retaining International Visitor Markets’ ‘The Use of Technology In Targeting The MICE Market; ‘Eco Action For Communities and Companies’; ‘Hajj and Umrah Tourism’ and ‘Attracting & Retaining Customers Through Secure Online Payment.’ 

"Speakers are from the USA, the Far East, India, the UK and Saudi Arabia," said Nutley. "They are experts in their individual fields and will provide great insight into the future of the industry." 

Corbin Ball, hailed by Meeting News Magazine as one of the world's most influential people in the meetings industry will represent the Connected International Meeting Professionals Association (CIMPA), when he addresses the seminar on emerging web and wireless trends for meeting professionals. 

"The Internet has changed the way we all do business," said Nutley. "Delegates will be able to see some of the newest tools and features that are at the cutting edge of online technology, and discover how the Web can be used in almost every function of the meeting planning process." 

Seminar demonstrations will include: virtual site inspections; on-line requests for proposals, room diagramming online, web registration, housing, trade show building, meeting promotion, on-line surveys as well as wireless applications. 

Representatives of the Pacific Asian Travel Association (PATA), Green Globe 21 and Paybox UK are among seminar speakers. 

"The seminar has a deliberate heavy focus on the US because American associations and corporations spend over US $110 billion in meetings annually a great market for outbound destinations to tap," said Nutley. 

"The seminar will explain how US organisers select meeting sites and professional organisers. Currently there are approximately 45,000 US-based associations each organising anywhere from 5 to 120 meetings a year. About 46% of them organise international meetings, according to a state-of-the-industry report by Deloitte and Touche." 

Arabian Travel Market 2002 will run from tomorrow until Friday night (May 10). Opening times are: 

May 7 - 11.00 / 18.00 Meridian Club & Trade 
May 8 - 10.00 / 18.00 Meridian Club & Trade 
May 9 - 10.00 / 17.00 Meridian Club & Trade 17.00 / 20.00 Meridian Club/Trade & Public 
May 10 - 16.00 / 21.00 Meridian Club/Trade & Public 

The general public will pay a nominal entry fee of Dhs 5 per person or Dhs 10 for a family ticket on the consumer sessions of the evening of Thursday, May 9 and Friday, May 10. Those presenting their Visa card will have free entry. 

"As always with the show, there will be lots for visitors to see with displays of folkloric song and dance, great competitions with holiday prizes, including trips to Cyprus and to the World Cup in Korea," said Nutley. 

Arabian Travel Market 2002 will also feature an Internet Café, run by Expatsite.com, which proved popular last year. The show's official carrier, the UAE’s award-winning airline Emirates has offered bona-fide show delegates concessionary fares to Dubai. 

RTE, which is part of Reed Exhibition Companies (REC), organises 11 events worldwide, including World Travel Market, Arabian Travel Market, C.I.S. Travel Market, EIBTM, British Travel Trade Fair, PATA Travel Market, International Golf Travel Market, Mediterranean Travel Fair, Top Resa, AIME and ICCA Exhibition in association with ICCA Congress.

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