LIVE FROM ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET 2013: DAY ONE

It's that time of year again! The 20th anniversary edition of Arabian Travel Market kicks off today and Hotelier Middle East is at the event to bring you all the show news...

9am: With our sister title Arabian Travel News, the Hotelier team is busy putting the finishing touches to our stand — number ME4404 in Hall 3, opposite the Kuwait and Oman pavilions and close to the now-famous Emirates globe. Make sure you come along and say hi during the event.

9.05am: The buzz ahead of this year’s ATM, the 20th anniversary edition, is palpable. Hotels and tourism boards alike made a raft of announcements yesterday in anticipation. Hilton Worldwide announced its re-entry to Bahrain with Doubletree, Wyndham Hotel Group signed the first Wyndham-branded hotel in Dubai and Emaar Hospitality Group took the bold step of unveiling a new brand — Vida Hotels and Resorts. The announcement everyone is talking about, however, is HH Sheikh Mohammad’s bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai approval of Dubai’s new tourism vision for 2020. By 2020, Dubai will double visitor numbers to 20 million and the annual contribution made by tourism to the city’s economy will triple. Hotelier editor Louise Oakley caught up with HE Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of DTCM, who encouraged hotels to contribute to this growth potential by assessing their appeal to the family market and working to transform business guests into repeat leisure visitors.

9.15am: News just in — Shaza Hotels has signed its first property in Doha, an 180-room hotel due to open in Spring 2016. At the signing, Simon Coombs, President & CEO of Shaza Hotels said: “We are very excited to announce the signing of Shaza Doha. Doha is keen to develop and showcase the region’s arts and heritage. This complements Shaza’s vision, to recognise and embrace the values and cultures of this region. We are a natural fit for this project and look forward to being a part of this aspiring city”.

9.45am: Hotel groups are revealing hugely positive figures ahead of today's show: During the first quarter of 2013, average occupancy in Jumeirah’s portfolio of hotels has increased by 9% globally, compared to the same period in 2012. In the same period the average daily rate rose by 9% and the revenue per available room, an industry standard for measuring performance, rose by 22%. The performance data is based on hotels that had more than 18 months of operations. Over at Marriott International, the company has announced an 11.2 per cent increase in RevPAR figures across the Middle East and Africa for first quarter compared to the same period in 2012.

10.30am: Just half an hour until the show opens and already, hotels are starting to make announcements. Doha is again the market to watch, with Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group continuing with its strategic expansion in the Middle East with the announcement of its first hotel in Qatar. Anantara Doha Island Resort & Spa is a 141-key five star resort in the Arabian Gulf, just off the coast of the country’s capital Doha, and will open early in 2014.

12.30pm: The Spanish Tourism Board reveals that in 2012 there were 26,000 MENA visitors to Spain. It forecasts this figure to increase by 50% for 2013. Tourism accounts for 11% of Spain's interior product . During 2012 there was a total 50 million visitors to Spain bringing in a total income of US $41,000. "Our presence at ATM is very important, as Spain is still not recognised as imporant in this region. We are here to promote its importance and develop it as one of the MENA visitor's favourites," said the spanish secratary of state for tourism.

13.26pm: A lovely gentleman from Oman Air has just popped over to the Hotelier/ATN stand, very excited that the airline has been named as having the 'best economy class'. I look forward to hearing more about that at some point today!

14.30pm: Very exciting news from Souq Waqif Boutique Hotels in Doha, they're launching two new hotels this year: Al Bidda and Al Jomrok. Abdo Kayali, group director of sales and marketing said the new additions would continue to complement the collection - and for all you foodies - will boast an Italian and a Lebanese restaurant. Al Bidda will also carry a bakery! The rooms will continue the theme of the Souq Waqif collection of having a small number - Al Bidda comprising 32 rooms and Al Jomrok 11 rooms plus two suites. "We based the concept on boutique hotels in Europe, a smaller number of rooms allowing for that luxury feel and making for a memorable experience, explained Al Kayali. he added that with the theatre concept and the newly launched dhow tours, Souq Waqif would continue to promote Doha as a destination.

3.30pm: Qatar Airways press conference has to be one of the most buzzing yet. A quick headcount - I'd say there's about 60 people here! Obviously it's Akbar Al Baker's bubbly personality drawing in the crowds. Arabian Business' Irish reporter, Shane McGinley was pretty disappointed to hear QA would not be opening any routes to Dublin any time soon...But on a more positive note, Al Baker revealed it would expand its routes across three continents along with a huge increase in capacity in Pakistan by 60% with 28 flights a week. Routes to Addis Ababa and Clark International Airport in the Phillipines would also open up later this year and next year March will see Philadelphia become the airline's fifth US gateway. Al Baker also expressed confidence in the dreamliner which commenced activities earlier this month - he did reveal that the grounding cost the airline $200m! QA is looking forward to moving into its new home Hamad International later this year. The $15b airport is scheduled to open by Q4 2013 and has a suspended swimming pool behind concourses C,D&E - cool! "The delay in the airport opening is costing us heavily as we can not expand and are currently over capacity in terms of our fleet at the current airport," said Al Baker. "The new airport opening will be a serious game-changer as people will soon want to travel to Qatar just for Hamad International," he added.

3.50pm:In an exclusive interview with Banyan Tree CEO Abid Butt, he revealed that the group would be announcing a property in Bahrain in the next two weeks. He wouldn't release any more information at this stage, but watch this space! The group is also actively developing a Banyan Tree and Angsana resort in Sifah, Oman, and will be opening its first Ayurvedic resort in Kerala before the year is out.

4.15pm: Yas Island is shaping up to be an exciting destination and creating quite a buzz at the show. Mike Oswald, general manager of the new Yas Waterworld, says visitor numbers have been beyond the forecast. He's targeting 700,000 visitors to the attraction, which has 43 rides, within the first year. Business at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi also seems to be picking up, with the park set to open seven-days-a-week, instead of six, from Q4, 2013.

4.30pm:  There has been a visible upsurge in the number of people from the region visiting the Rhone-Alpes region of France since the area actively started marketing in MENA in 2006. Accourding to Laurent Cormier, VP of the Rhone Alpes region, one of the biggest contributions to the increase in visitor numbers has been the direct Emirates link to Lyon. "While Paris is popular for it's tourism hotspots and it's architecture - year round; the Rhone-Alpes region looks different depending on which season visitors come. So in winter of course it's the skiing that attracts people, but in summer canoeing is hugely popular. It means people get to see something different everytime they come," says Cormier.

5pm: News just in from staff writer Parinaaz at AHIC: Carlson Rezidor announced two properties, the Radisson Blu Residences in Dubai due to open in Q3 2014 and a 120-room Park Inn scheduled to open in Duqm, Oman.

5.10pm – Breaking news: GTA has just signed a deal in Nigeria for product distribution and signed a deal in Iraq today for the Kurdistan and Baghdad Areas. “MEA us growing double digit year on year for us and we’ve just celebrated our 15th year in the region, explained Rami Mashini, vice president sales and marketing, MEA. “People are extremely smart today and want value. Today the GTA voucher, I believe, is stronger than the traveler’s cheque,” he added. He noted that MEA was a key market, in particular Dubai, no because of its key geographic location but because most MEA hotel sales offices are in Dubai and so it was easier for GTA to “effectively align with them.”

5.30pm: Our final interview of the day is one worth waiting for, with Minor Hotel Group CEO Dilip Rajakarier. The group is now well established with Anantara in Abu Dhabi and is looking to expand across the region. The Anantara on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai will open on September 15, with tuk tuks and a long boat two of the exciting Thai features. Doha will be next, with Rajakarier claiming the group's island-based hotel will "put Doha on the map". There's also a hotel under development in Salalah, Oman — with three or four in the pipeline in Oman — and Saudi Arabia and Sharjah also tipped for expansion. "Then Middle East becomes a core region for us", says Rajakarier.

6pm: The show is starting to clear out for the evening, so we're off to don our glad rags for tonight's parties at Jumeirah Creekside, Ramada Plaza JBR, Fairmont The Palm and The Address Downtown Dubai. See you in the morning!