ATM 2016 seminar line-up attracts big names
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The forthcoming Arabian Travel Market 2016 will witness the organisation of more than 50 seminar and tech theatre sessions.
The panellist coming in from different regions will contribute to discussions, with topics including mid-market travel, luxury, aviation, technology trends, spa and wellness tourism, business, adventure and halal tourism.
The opening session, ‘The Future of UAE As A Global Tourism Hub’ will feature Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO Shurooq, Sultan Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri, acting executive director, tourism, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), Gerald Lawless, head of tourism, Dubai Holding and honorary president, Jumeirah Group, Thierry Antinori, Emirates executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Emirates Airline and Aligi Gardenghi – VP marketing EMEA and commercial director MEA, Hilton Worldwide.
The session will be moderated by Zeinab Badawi, broadcast presenter, BBC World News, who will steer speakers through unique selling points of each emirate and their tourism goals, important role played by the UAE’s aviation infrastructure and airline industry, new mega projects in the pipeline and how Expo 2020 is set to put the UAE on the global tourism map.
Visitor statistics and hotel development across the emirates is showing signs of positive growth. Abu Dhabi experienced 4,105,846 hotel guest arrivals in 2015 – an 18% rise on the previous year – with an additional 1,000 hotel keys delivered, increasing supply to 20,700 keys by the year-end. Subsequently, Dubai welcomed 14.2 million visitors in 2015 – a rise of 7.5% on 2014 – and is a step closer to achieving its target of 20 m visitors by 2020. The hotel market saw the addition of 6,000 hotel keys in 2015, increasing the total supply to 98,330 keys according to Dubai Tourism.
Responsible tourism is another key focus and will headline several seminar theatre sessions devoted to the topic including ‘coping with success – the sustainability challenge in the region’.
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