Event Preview: Arabian Travel Market
As it celebrates its 20th year, Arabian Travel Market 2013 is introducing a raft of new features, high-profile speakers and partnerships with companies such as Google and Online Travel Training. Reed Travel Exhibitions portfolio director Mark Walsh reveals the highlights and predicts the key trends.
What’s new at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) this year?
As 2013 is the 20th Anniversary of ATM, we kick off this year’s week-long seminar series with a panel session entitled ‘20 Years: Now, Then and Tomorrow’, providing an insightful look at Dubai and the UAE’s travel and tourism achievements over the last two decades.
We’ll also join aviation sector innovators – and new airline partners – Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, and Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce, as they discuss their ground-breaking partnership in ‘The Big Conversation’, chaired by veteran air transport consultant John Strickland.
We welcome back the second annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Ministerial Forum this year held in partnership with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Dubai Tourism and Culture Authority.
The Ministerial Summit, “Tourism and Aviation: Building a Common Agenda for Growth”, will bring together ministers of tourism and leaders from the aviation industry from around the world to discuss aviation and tourism policies, economic growth and sustainable development and the current obstacles and opportunities for growth.
Another new feature for 2013 is the Digital and Technology Day, which will focus on online travel developments, introducing headline speakers from across the industry including Bruce Martin, operations director, Online Travel Training, who will lead a session offering a behind-the-scenes look at the concept of ‘gamification’ — the global trend boosting engagement, branding, loyalty and learning in travel.
We are also delighted to partner up with some of the biggest names in the online world, including Google, who will hold a half-day Think Travel event giving business leaders essential insight into the latest travel industry trends and digital innovations.
Another interesting session taking place this year is from Wayn.com, which will focus on how to use social media to help drive user engagement and direct performance for your business.
Destination Briefings covering five major geographical areas will also be scheduled throughout the week with the MENA region, Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe each getting their chance to share in the spotlight. The hour-long sessions will uncover new travel trends, provide insider tips to discover emerging destinations and key travel opportunities.
For the first time in ATM history, we have also launched a show mascot. Shaheen the falcon is an integral part of our travel agent awareness campaign strategy and is already making his presence felt in the marketplace, featured in all online communication.
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Can you tell us more about the UNWTO forum?
For the second year running, ATM 2013 will host a special UNWTO forum, with this year’s session taking place on Tuesday May 7, under the theme “Tourism and Aviation: Building a Common Agenda for Growth”. In 2012, international tourism hit the historic milestone of one billion people travelling the planet in a year. Over half arrived at their destinations by air.
The extraordinary growth of international tourism over the last six decades – from 25 million tourists in 1950 to one billion in 2012 – is as much due to advances in air transport as to the rise of the middle class, the growing wealth in industrialised and emerging countries and the forces of globalisation. The development of tourism in the Middle East is a classic example of how tourism and aviation can pull together as drivers of growth.
The Ministerial Summit, which is to be held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Arabian Travel Market, will bring together ministers of tourism and leaders from the aviation industry from around the world to discuss the following: How can aviation and tourism policies combine to foster economic growth and sustainable development considering the example of the Middle East?
What are the current obstacles and opportunities for market growth: connectivity, infrastructure development, visa facilitation and taxation?
How can closer relations be fostered between the Middle East and other world regions to enhance tourism?
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You’ve partnered with Google for the first time; what does this entail?
For the first time ever, internet giant Google will sponsor the Technology Theatre as part of the newly-launched Digital Technology Day on the third day of the show. Google will be using the Technology Theatre to share insights of the travel industry and technology under the umbrella theme of “Think Travel”.
This is a first for ATM and the regional travel and tourism community. Our partnership with Google will not only deliver up-to-the-minute industry data, but will showcase how technology plays an integral role in the travel industry — whether it’s searching for ideas or booking vacations or sharing their experience through social platforms.
Google’s Gulf regional manager Mohamad Mourad and Marie de Ducla, travel industry manager for Google in MENA, will be on hand to share the findings of a Google-commissioned research study conducted by IPSOS. The study will reveal the results of how travellers in MENA make decisions when it comes to searching, deciding, and purchasing.
The data is greatly anticipated, following the results of an October 2012 study by Travelport entitled Assessing the Online Travel Opportunity: The Middle East, which revealed that a shift in the attitude of the region’s travellers to online booking channels has seen bookings grow by almost a third in 2012 to reach just under US $10.4 billion, up 31% on 2011 figures.
In 2011 alone, there was a 39% rise in online bookings in the region, and we are witnessing a paradigm shift from dependence on traditional booking channels to online services as the Middle East traveller becomes more confident using the internet as a convenient, reliable and credible resource.
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In addition to online travel, what other tourism trends do you think will dominate at ATM?
Urban tourism and sustainability are two key travel trends.
We recently conducted some market research which has shown that more than 276 hotels and hotel apartments are located within 2km of one of five mega shopping malls in Dubai.
The original research was conducted to look at how urban tourism has grown exponentially over the past two decades and how the retail landscape has expanded in parallel to mark ATM’s own 20th anniversary celebrations.
Well over 80% of tourists look for sustainable solutions when traveling and more than 40% of them are prepared to pay extra for it.
At last year’s show, the irrefutable benefits of sustainability in the Middle East hospitality industry were bought to the fore by internationally-recognised Green Globe Certification (GGC), at a dedicated ‘sustainable tourism’ seminar which is now part of ATM’s seminar programme.
The number of environmentally-aware tourists is rising as more travellers consider impact on the environment.
As a global pressure group, environmentalists have gone from being a fringe group of ‘tree huggers’ in the 80s and early 90s to a powerful lobby courted by all mainstream political parties.
And as the UAE is estimated to spend up to $80 billion on energy by 2020 to meet the increasing demands of a growing population and burgeoning tourism sector, reduced consumption has never been higher on the hospitality business agenda.
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What visitor profile do you expect?
ATM 2012 reported a healthy increase in visitor numbers driven by the show’s renewed B2B focus.
We also recorded a significant rise in decision makers and influencers – up by 35% - from members of its buyers club, hosted delegates, regional and international speakers and hosted luxury travel buyers. At ATM 2012, 74% of visitors were of management status or above and 69% of visitors either influence or have direct purchasing authority. The majority of the trade visitors last year were interested in buying accommodation, air travel and technology.
What’s your advice to exhibitors to make the most of Arabian Travel Market 2013?
The past 20 years have seen a shift in exhibitor attitudes towards their participation at the event. Today pre-show planning and preparation are essential for the show and exhibitors will need to have strong newsworthy announcements and launches to attract the attention of visitors and media.
Announcements should be prepared in advance of the show. Exhibitors should also make the most of social media campaigns leading up to the event in order to interact directly with their key target markets.
A great way to make sure you are meeting with the key buyers who attend ATM, which is available to all exhibitors, is the ‘My ATM’ function, which allows you to pre-book meetings and appointments, saving time onsite. My ATM is an online diary system that allows exhibitors to request meetings with our buyers to make sure that they don’t waste a single minute of their time when they arrive onsite.
Exhibitors will also need to make sure their stands look interesting and attractive as it is a reflection of their organisation after all. They should also make use of the press conference rooms to communicate their news directly with the onsite media representatives.
Another way to ensure they make the most out of the show is to download our free Arabian Travel Market app which gives up-to-date information about the event as well as the exhibitor portal which can be used to organise and streamline all meetings which have been set up over the four days, and upload exhibitor press releases which feed directly into the online media room.
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Stat attack
- 20th Anniversary of ATM this year
- 22,283m² Space allocated to ATM 2013
- 1514 Exhibitors signed up
- 656 regional exhibitors
- US $10.4bn Worth of online bookings in ME IN 2012 (TRAVELPORT)
- 39% Rise in online bookings in THE MIDDLE EAST IN 2011 alone
- 1 bn GLOBAL TRAVELLERS recorded for the first time in 2012
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Top 5 hotel trends to dominate ATM
1. Online recruitment
Hotels like the new JW Marriott Marquis Dubai are using social media channels and their own dedicated web-based portals to attract jobseekers as well as garner more detailed information on candidates’ characters to match personality and ability to potential positions.
While still in its relative infancy in the region, online recruitment is growing, primarily supported by Gen Y professionals for whom social media is an essential communication tool for both business and leisure.
Other reasons to turn to online recruitment include the streamlining of applications through online candidate assessment (especially relevant to this region when recruiting from overseas), cost-saving benefits (reduced recruitment agency fees) and increased brand awareness.
2. Ultimate experiences
With tailor-made indulgences accounting for more than 50% of the US $1.4 trillion spent on luxury goods and services in 2011 (according to a Boston Consulting Group report), high-end hotels are now looking to offer more than just a high thread count for guests seeking bespoke experiences that make a hotel a destination in its own right.
From positioning the Jumeirah Creekside Dubai into a nine-storey living art museum, complete with an onsite curator, to Saudi Arabia’s Fairmont Makkah Royal Clock Tower which provides Hajj and Umrah travellers with exclusive access to its extensive library of Islamic texts, it’s all about differentiation.
Itinerary development beyond simply providing guests history-based value-add is also prompting proactive hotel operators to look more deeply at the lifestyle of their high-spend guests and tailor personal experiences accordingly for a ‘wow’ factor.
3. More regional brands
Rotana and Jumeirah led the way, and new regional brands are opening for business across the region, especially in the mid-range category. According to a Q3 2012 report from TRI Hospitality Consulting, home-grown brands are adding new inventory to their respective markets with an eye on local and regional expansion.
Smaller fledgling developers and operators are swelling the UAE portfolio. At the other end of the scale, and with a remit to take its brand outside of the UAE, The Address Hotels + Resorts is one company following in Jumeirah’s footsteps and introducing its own regional style into key international destinations.
4. Targeting China
The growth of inbound visitors from BRIC giant China has been a trend for the last couple of years, and hotels are now looking internally at services and facilities to cater to this specific market segment.
Chinese-speaking front-of-house and support staff are being recruited to deliver a seamless service from guest relations to creating menus that appeal to Chinese tastes. According to a MasterCard study, an estimated 300,000 Chinese tourists visited the UAE in 2011, spending a staggering US$334 million.
5. Rethinking loyalty
Rather than just tallying annual room nights to gauge top client performance, smart hoteliers are looking at loyalty in a new light by analysing total guest revenue. In recognising the wider potential of peripheral revenue streams, hotels are able to refine their strategy and product to maximise spend and therefore profitability. Clients with 1000 room nights are great, but those with 500 room nights, plus four quarterly meetings and a gala dinner are equally valuable.