The Middle East region’s largest travel and tourism showcase, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), continues this week from Monday to Wednesday, with the highly anticipated ATM Virtual event. During the three-day showcase, which begins on May 24, those unable to attend the in-person event this year have the opportunity to view sessions recorded from the in-person event, as well as participate in a range of webinars, live conference sessions, roundtables, speed networking events, destination briefings, as well as make new connections in one-to-one meetings.
Danielle Curtis, exhibition director Middle East, ATM, said: “We are thrilled to be able to continue with ATM Virtual 2021 off the back of the hugely successful in-person event at the Dubai World Trade Centre last week. We must be able to reach a wider audience as possible as the travel and tourism sector unites to pave the way forward toward fast-paced recovery beyond COVID-19.”
Under the theme of “A new dawn for travel and tourism,” the virtual event begins with an exclusive airline industry leadership keynote interview with Emirates President Sir Tim Clark, with airline expert John Strickland from JLS Consulting. It will be followed by IATA’s director general Willie Walsh’s keynote interview, also with Strickland. It will explore the priority issues on Walsh’s agenda and seek his views on how IATA needs to drive engagement and consistency of approach to permit airlines to begin the process of recovery.
One of the many highlights from the in-person event last week, the Saudi Arabia Tourism Summit returns virtually on Monday for an exclusive look at the future of the Kingdom’s hotel landscape. With the long-term tourism outlook more bullish than ever, hotel industry heavyweights including Accor’s CEO for Turkey, India, the Middle East and Africa, Mark Willis; Olivier Harnisch, head of hospitality, Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia; Hassan Ahdab, president of hotels operations for Dur Hospitality; and Christopher Lund, director, head of hotels, MENA region, Colliers International; will discuss the vast potential for new and innovative hospitality concepts that keep pace with this demand and fast-changing guest demographics, now and in the future.
