Dubai: Sri Lanka will field over 50 companies at the 30th edition Arabian Travel Market starting tomorrow at the World Trade Centre in Dubai.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. “This is the highest number of participants at this event in recent times and many new companies too are participating, said Director Marketing and Business Development, Sri Lanka Tourism, Dushan Weerasooriya.
He said that the Gulf is a very important market for Sri Lanka as it gives multiple benefits to tourism. “First Arabs are high spenders and they travel with their families. Second, there are a lot of European, US, and USA expats working in the Gulf and we can reach out to them as well.” He said that the region also has very good direct air connectivity making it an easier destination to market.
SriLankan Airlines too is participating in this event. This year’s exhibition has ten stand halls with one dedicated to Asia where Sri Lanka is placed.
With tourism rebounding this year ATM exhibiting companies have increased by to over 2,000 there are also 100 new exhibitors. This is a 27% increase.
Expected overall attendance for the ATM would be over 34,000 from more than 150 destinations.
These include regional upticks for the Middle East, representation for which will be 24% larger than in 2022, Europe (17% larger), Asia (15% larger) and Africa (8.5% larger).
The event’s Travel Tech and hotels sectors have also witnessed sizeable year-on-year growth, expanding by 62% and 37.5%, respectively.
Chinese exhibitors and travel professionals are making a welcome return to ATM 2023, after the country lifted its Covid-related travel restrictions earlier this year. China became the world’s top source market in 2019, with 155 million tourists spending more than $250 billion overseas, and CNN predicts the nation’s outbound market will recover to around six million travellers per month by the summer of 2023.
This year’s spotlight would be on sustainability with the new show theme, “Working towards net zero”, which will be explored across all industry verticals.” There will also be 40 conference sessions with almost 150 local, regional and international speakers during the three day event.
A host of new topics in the conference program including sports, retail and city tourism as well as The Future of Transport too have been added.