Did you know that the organisers of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) start planning for the show at least 12 months in advance? As the biggest travel and tourism show in the Middle East, there’s a significant amount of work that goes into the four-day event. From booking the stands for exhibitors and arranging visitor passes, to identifying educational speakers, creating the publications and events and liaising with the media, the planning and organisation is one of the main reasons the show is so well-attended. 2016’s edition was the most successful to date recording an 8% growth in visitors.
With 2017’s theme recently announced as experiential travel, it’s never too soon to start planning your own presence at ATM, whether that’s as an exhibitor or visitor. By preparing now, you can leverage the benefits taking advantage of all that the show has to offer. Here are a few suggestions on how to make the most of this upcoming event.
Review
If you attended ATM last year, review your activities to see how effective they were. Did you follow up with everyone? Did you achieve your sales quota? What was the feedback on your stand? Overall, identify strategies to improve your presence even more.
Set Goals
What is your objective of attending ATM? Is it for brand awareness, PR exposure, signing contracts, or networking? By setting specific and measurable goals and having a clearly defined outcome, you can use this information to measure your success and the impact on your business.
Information Update
Make it easy for people to find you by ensuring your information is correct on the ATM portal. This includes contact details, logo, and so on while the online tools can be used to arrange meetings, load press releases, and share information.
Plan Your Diary
While ATM offers huge sales opportunities, it’s also an ideal time to get valuable market insights. The variety of expert speakers and workshops offers something for everyone. If you’re a manager, identify panels and talks that will help your team’s learning and development.
Train & Prepare Your Sales Team
Trade shows are busy so your sales team needs to know and be able to communicate key messages effectively and enticingly, according to your objective. They also need the right tools to be able to sell so ensure your marketing collateral reflects your brand, stands out from the competition, and is easy and light for visitors to take away.
Get Social & PR Savvy
Ensure you have a targeted PR and social media plan in place to make the most of having almost 40,000 travel and tourism professionals in one place. There are numerous ATM publications, awards, and blogs as well as most of the region’s leading media, so start strategising now for maximum exposure. You can also take advantage of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities ATM offers.
Arabian Travel Market 2017 will take place from 24th to 27th April 2017 at Dubai World Trade Centre. Register your interest now.