BIGGEST ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET GETS UNDERWAY SHOW TO MOVE TO AIRPORT EXPO FOR 2002 /2003

The largest ever Arabian Travel Market, the Middle East's premier travel and tourism exhibition, gets underway on May 1st with almost 800 companies from 55 countries in five halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Arabian Travel Market 2001 is being held under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE Defence Minister and Chairman of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Government of Dubai. The show is held under the auspices of the DTCM.

"This year's show takes up over 8,000 square metres of exhibition space, a 15 per cent increase on last year," said Tom Nutley, Managing Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), which organises the show.

"Each year since this show started it has achieved double digit growth, this year the trend has continued with new exhibitors entering the event and regular participants substantially increasing their stands."

In total 782 companies are taking part in the event on 216 stands.

"Seventy-one exhibitors are new to the show which includes first-time representation from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Ethiopia and Vietnam" explained Nutley. "Of the 55 countries represented, 45 are participating in an official capacity."

Global tourism leaders are due to descend on Dubai for the show, with confirmed participation in the opening ceremony by: His Excellency Karam Karam, Lebanon's Tourism Minister and Nasser Safieddine, the Director General of Lebanon's National Council of Tourism; His Excellency Dr. Qassem Meqdad, Syria's Tourism Minister; Mr Thamrin B. Bachri, Director General of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia and Mr Parlindungan Hutabarat, Executive Director of Jakarta

City Government Tourism Office; Jeff Hamblin, Chief Executive Officer of the British Tourist Authority and Aiden Ford, Chairman of the British Incoming Tour Operators Association.

Arabian Travel Market 2001 will also feature dedicated free-to-attend seminars with experts probing the latest travel and tourism issues, including the environment, maximising meetings business, the impact of technology and incentive criteria.

A special seminar theatre has been constructed in Hall 3 at the Dubai World Trade Centre; the same hall will host the Arabian Travel Market Internet Café, which this year is being run by ExpatSite.com

RTE is hoping to improve on last year's visitor turnout of 5,961 trade visitors from 86 countries.

"To date we have 2,453 visitors and media registered from 79 countries which is almost 12% more than at the same time last year," said Nutley. "Over Sixty per cent of those who have pre-registered are from outside the UAE. Other prospective visitors have registered from as far away as Costa Rica, Ghana, Yugoslavia and Swaziland.

"Many pre-registrations are now made online via our upgraded web-site. Attendance has also been encouraged by the show's official carrier Emirates, which has offered preferential rates to Arabian Travel Market visitors and provided complimentary tickets for a sizeable press contingent. This year we are also going to make visitor access to the show easier by having four registration points as opposed to three last year."

This year's Arabian Travel Market hosted buyer programme will feature top travel Meetings, Incentive, Conferences and Exhibition (MICE) purchasers from 12 countries spanning Europe, the Sub-continent, Scandinavia, Turkey and the USA.

In addition a select group of Saudi Arabia's leading travel buyers will take part in a special hosted buyer programme. All will be accommodated at the five-star deluxe Dusit Dubai hotel, which is just a few minutes away from the Dubai World Trade Centre and which has just opened for business. All hosted buyers will meet Arabian Travel Market exhibitors in pre-scheduled appointments.

"We have focussed on the MICE sector because last year's independent post-show survey of exhibitors revealed that 84% of participants polled declared this segment as crucial," explained Nutley. "Buyers from Saudi Arabia have been prioritised because the post-show survey also revealed that 58% of participants polled, viewed the Kingdom as their most important regional market," said Nutley.

Meanwhile, RTE has announced that Arabian Travel Market will be held at Airport Expo Dubai next year and in 2003.

"Because of the expansion work at the Dubai World Trade Centre to accommodate the hosting of the IMF & World Bank conference in 2003, access to certain halls will be restricted and it is not feasible to hold a show of the size of Arabian Travel Market at DWTC until the work is complete," explained Nutley.

"During this year's show we have arranged inspection tours of the Airport Expo venue for those exhibitors who wish to see this state-of-the-art centre for themselves."

Arabian Travel Market 2002 will be held from May 7 - 10 next year.

The general public pays a nominal entry fee of Dhs5 per person or Dhs10 for a family ticket on the consumer sessions of the evening of Thursday May 3 and Friday, May 4. Visa International, the world's largest payment card system, is the official payment card sponsor for the show and will be running a competition for the public on consumer day.

"We have expanded the consumer sessions into Thursday evening, again due to exhibitor demand," said Nutley. "As with most travel shows there will be lots for visitors to see with displays of folkloric song and dance, great competitions with holiday prizes and even demonstrations of chocolate making on the Brussels stand."