Trade Visitors Up 25% At ATM 2004

Dubai Showcases Tourism Growth And Future Projects

The 11th edition of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), which concluded at the Dubai World Trade Centre, attracted over 1,400 exhibitors from 55 countries and took up more than 10,500 square meters of exhibition space. The event also featured the first official pavilions from Abu Dhabi and Iran. The trend continued with initial unaudited registration showing some 8,606 trade visitors from 96 countries attending the show - a 25 per cent increase on 2003. The encouraging factor for ATM was the increase in the number of overseas trade visitors travelling into the show that went up by 47 per cent. The larger attendance also spurred brisk business with a host of companies reporting on-site deals.

ATM provided networking opportunities for local and other participating organisations from both the public and private sectors. Dubai's tourism strengths and geographical and infrastructural advantages. Apart from this, the event was well utilised by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and its 84 co-participants to showcase Dubai's tourism strengths, expanding hospitality services, and a host of ambitious multi-million dollar projects taking shape in the emirate.

Said DTCM director general, Khalid A Bin Sulayem, "Every participant of the Dubai stand has been successful in achieving the desired goals from this exhibition whose influence and status has been growing with each passing year due to the support provided by us. The large scale participation and record crowd levels put ATM at par with other exhibitions like World Travel Market (WTM) and ITB Berlin. The tourism industry in the emirate has been gaining in strength with each passing year due to massive developments taken up by both the private and public sectors. This, was reflected in the enhanced share of tourism contribution to the GDP which stood at over 17 per cent directly and 28 per cent indirectly."

Meanwhile, planning has begun for Arabian Travel Market 2005, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 3-6, 2005, as commitments for the 12th edition begin to pour in. Austria and Spain have both said they hope to expand their pavilions while numerous private sector companies say they too are looking to increase their participation.

"This is our ninth year at ATM and we increase our space every year," said Shirin Samper of the Spanish Tourist Office. "It has always been a very successful show for us, largely because of the range of exhibitors and visitors right across the board. It has proved to be a consistently excellent platform for us and we are looking to increase our space next year."