Arabian Travel Market 2019 to Host Inaugural Hotel Industry Summit

– UAE & KSA account for 94% of new hotel supply
– Inaugural Hotel Industry Summit will shine spotlight on infrastructure developments, investment opportunities and digital innovations
– UAE hotel supply forecast to grow at CAGR of 6% to 183,718 hotel rooms between 2017 and 2022

The annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) showcase in Dubai will host the first ATM Hotel Industry Summit as part of its line-up of special events.

Organized by Reed Travel Exhibitions, the Arabian Travel Market, which will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre during April 28–May 1, is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals.

The inaugural Hotel Industry Summit, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 30, on the Global Stage, will see various panels of experts discuss the latest hotel infrastructure developments, investment opportunities and digital innovations which are shaping the region’s ever-changing industry.

The UAE’s hospitality market is expected to be worth $7.6 billion annually by 2022, growing at a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.5 percent between 2017 and 2022, driven by Dubai’s Expo 2020, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and various other government initiatives to boost travel and tourism across the region.

Over the same period, hotel supply is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6 percent to 183,718 keys, according to research published in a report by Alpen Capital.

In addition to this, STR data shows that the GCC is expecting an additional 58,761 hotel rooms to enter the market in 2019. The leading contributors are the UAE with 31,517 rooms (53 percent) in the pipeline; Saudi Arabia with 24,170 (41 percent); and Oman with 2,984 (5 percent).

“It is important to highlight that the GCC is one of the fastest growing regional hospitality markets on a global scale, with the UAE leading the way as it gears up for Expo 2020 which is now less than two years away,” Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said.

Dubai.

“Dubai’s hotel supply alone is expected to reach 132,000 in 2019, with the emirate aiming to complete 160,000 hotel rooms by October 2020 – in time to welcome 25 million visitors for Expo 2020,” Curtis added.

The summit will get underway with a session on ‘Regional Development and Investment Hotspots’, highlighting buoyant destinations in the Middle East and explaining the factors behind their underlying growth. This market intelligence will be essential for hotel professionals, management companies, owners and investors – particularly with major infrastructure projects stacking up across the Gulf.

Muscat, Oman.

The second session of the day will discuss ‘The New Normal – Digital Transformation Secrets Revealed’, in which panelists will show how hotel groups can boost revenues and guest personalisation by implementing the latest technological tools.

ATM welcomed over 39,000 people to its 2018 event, showcasing the largest exhibition in the history of the show, with hotels comprising 20% of the floor area.

ATM 2019 will build on the success of this year’s edition with a host of seminar sessions discussing the ongoing unprecedented digital disruption, and the emergence of innovative technologies that will fundamentally alter the way in which the hospitality industry operates in the region.

Greek Travel Pages (GTP) is a communication sponsor of the Arabian Travel Market 2019.