Rotana Hotels & Resorts is marking its 25th anniversary by continuing its sponsorship of the registrations for next year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM), also celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The announcement was made today at WTM London. ATM takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 22 – 25 April next year.
Guy Hutchinson, chief operating officer for Rotana, said: “ATM has been critical to our success and we are delighted to continue our sponsorship of the registration process for what is ATM’s 25th anniversary.
“ATM is the most important travel business event in the region and it is important for us to have a strong presence in our home territory. The number of key decision makers from the region and beyond who attend is unrivalled.”
The theme for ATM18 is sustainability, an area where Rotana is leading the way, not only in the region but also from a global hospitality industry perspective. It has its own sustainability platform Rotana Earth which, Hutchinson said, looked at all aspects of its operations.
Hutchison said: “We don’t talk about ‘green’ internally because we go deeper than that. You can tell how serious a business is about sustainability by how deeply it is embedded into the corporate structure. Every hotel we operate has, at department head level, one person whose sole responsibility is oversee our sustainable initiatives.”
“We are looking hard at every aspect of waste management and food recycling. And our Saaadiyat resort, due to open by the end of the year [in Abu Dhabi], will have its own full-time marine biologist.”
He continued: “We are determined to rid our hotels of plastic bottles. The air in [Abu Dhabi] is quite humid, and we are looking at ways to extract the moisture from the air to create drinking water – drinkable air. It is proprietary technology we have developed ourselves and we have a prototype in our office.”
The announcement of its continued relationship with ATM came as the hotel chain announced at WTM London it is on course to meet its target of having 100 hotels in operation, up from its current portfolio of 34 properties across six brands. It showcased 14 new properties set to open by the end of 2018, including new hotels in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iraq. It will also makes its debut in Tanzania and Iran in 2018 with hotels in Dar Es Salaam and Mashhad respectively.
Hutchinson added that WTM was “huge” for the business, with 30% of the conversations taking place with technology companies, including consumer-facing online travel agents but also channel managers, switch companies and other B2B facilitators.
“We set up 154 meetings in advance for WTM, and we will get a direct return on investment from 80%, 90% of these,” he said.
ENDS
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises five leading B2B events across four continents generating more than $7bn of industry deals. The events are;
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 51,500 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL – London every November generating around £2.8 billion of travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/. Next event: 6-8 Nov 2017 – London.
International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) now in its 20th edition, is the meeting place for the global B2B golf travel community. More than 600 golf tourism suppliers join 350 pre-qualified buyers and 100 international press for four days of unmissable pre-scheduled appointments, exclusive networking opportunities and invaluable industry and trend updates. Taking place in a different destination every year, IGTM brings together 1,400 golf tourism professionals from over 65 countries. http://igtm.wtm.com/. Next event: 11-14 Dec 2017 – Cannes.
WTM Latin America now in its fifth edition attracts about 9,000 unique senior executives. The event generates US$ 370 million of new business. Taking place in Sao Paulo Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 7,000 unique visitors attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news. http://latinamerica.wtm.com/. Next event: 3-5 April 2018 – Sao Paulo.
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nearly 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/. Next event: 18-20 April 2018 – Cape Town.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2017 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, agreeing deals worth US$2.5bn over the four days. The 24th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, making it the largest ATM in its 24-year history. www.arabiantravelmarketwtm.com Next event 22-25 April 2018 – Dubai.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face to face through data and digital tools at over 500 events a year, in more than 30 countries, attracting more than 7m participants.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.
More information, please contact:
Paul Nelson – WTM Portfolio PR Manager
E.: paul.nelson@reedexpo.co.uk
T: +44 (0)20 8910 7032/ M: +44 (0)79 1955 5510
Natalia Hartmann – WTM Portfolio PR Executive
E.: natalia.hartmann@reedexpo.co.uk
T: +44 (0)20 8439 5535/ M: +44 (0)74 0336 7331