A thrilling event with all the health and safety measures in place and an innovative hybrid format is back to support the global tourism industry and travel businesses.
One of the leading events for global travel and tourism, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), comes back this year with an innovative format. ATM 2021 will take place next month and will feature both a live event and a virtual one. The former will be from 16-19 May and will be hosted in the Dubai World Trade Centre while the latter will happen from 24-26 of May. Therefore, the most luxurious city of the United Arab Emirates will become the epicentre of travel and tourism business during ATM 2021.
More than 300 exhibitors are joining the 28th edition of this event, including companies and brands of different industry’s segments like accommodation, transport, and attractions. Also, ATM is synonymous with globalization due to the number of worldwide firms that the event congregates. Africa, America, Asia, Europe…all regions will be part of an event that is designed to develop business potential in the Middle East.
This edition’s theme cannot be more suitable and critical: ‘A New Dawn for Travel and Tourism’. After a year where COVID-19 decimated the global economy and particularly the travel sector worldwide, 2021 is set to be the beginning of the travels’ comeback. ATM’s role in the industry’s recovery process is to provide a space, both physical and virtual, where tourism destinations from around the world can showcase their wonders and their brands as well as creating and enhancing business relationships with top companies in accommodation, hospitality, events, technology, and transport.
If you are attending the event, and I recommend you not to miss it, here are some steps that you should take into consideration if you and your company want to make the most out of an event like ATM 2021:
Get to know who will be there
If you are taking part in just one of the two ATM’s events, or both, you should be aware of who will be there as well. Visit the event’s website or its Instagram account and have a look at key exhibitors that will be attending. It seems like an obvious step, but it is quite important that prior to jump into networking, you identify the best players that align with your company’s goals first so then you and your team can start designing a strategy to approach them and engage with them.
The importance of prioritizing and scheduling
Everyone attending ATM has the same objective: to get the best business deal. Due to the wide list of exhibitors combined with the time constraints of any event, you will need a clear action plan to work against the clock and get ahead of any potential competitors. I also recommend you arrive to the event with a list of attending companies and brands that are the most suitable ones to network with in order to achieve your main business objectives. This will take you some time, but it will be absolutely worthy. Having a strategic roadmap based on your different corporate goals will make it easier to prioritize and go straight to meet the people whom you will be negotiating and dealing with.
Consider following the same plan to organize your attendance to the whole ATM experience. Webinars and conferences are a key feature of this event as well. Having a well-designed calendar in advance will help you to network with others without being worried about missing any session. Here you can find a list with the full conference programme along with the speakers that will participate in them as well as the themes that will be discussed.
Engage as much as you can
This is something you can do before, during, and after the event. There are a few posts that you will find interesting to read in preparation for ATM. These posts as well as many others shared in the event’s social media channels will help you to have a better approach towards both the face-to-face and virtual event. Additionally, you can use social media as a complement for creating business bonds by, for example, using the hashtags that the event’s organization has created to facilitate interactions between visitors, buyers, and exhibitors. Finally, once you and your team have done the hard work, use the same channels to provide some feedback about ATM or just share your thoughts about this year’s edition, it is another way in which you can connect with other attendants.
Do not forget to enjoy the experience
The purpose of ATM is to contribute restarting the international travel industry yet not everything is about business. Those who are attending the live event will have the opportunity to get a taste of what the most outstanding destinations around the world will showcase on their stands but also, once the sessions and the hard work is done, the chance to explore a city as vibrant as Dubai. Having some spare time to discover the wonders of this metropolis will inspire you to come back to your next meeting or session and enjoy it to the fullest. If you found this post interesting and helpful, remember to share it with your peers so everyone can get the most of such a thrilling event for travel and tourism.