Bird’s eye view of ATM Dubai, 2019
In light of the changing global situation relating to the COVID-19, the latest travel exhibition that moved its date to 2021 is Arabian Travel Market which will have a deeper impact on the Indian market than other shows outside India. Earlier scheduled to take place in April starting 19th, the show was first postponed till the end of June. After reviewing the latest situation and trends of the pandemic, Reed Exhibitions, the organisers of ATM Dubai has finally decided to push it straight to 2021.
After the cancellation of ITB Berlin and several other events around the world, ATM Dubai first moved its dates by just two months in anticipation that COVID-19 will be contained worldwide, travel will resume and it will be business as usual. But since there is no sign of containment in most of the countries, and economies remain standstill, there were not too many choices left with the organisers to move it to 2021.
Also with reports that several EU countries could keep their borders closed until September, and with the coronavirus sweeping across the United States, no major travel event seems possible in the foreseeable future.
As per the decision taken on April 19, to defer the show, ATM Dubai will now be held on May 16 – 19 2021, following the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr celebrations. However, for this year the organisers say they will hold an ATM Virtual Event from June 1 – 3, 2020 with webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, one-on-one meetings to keep the conversations running.
This puts extra pressure on the organisers of Expo 2020 Dubai as ATM Dubai was supposed to prepare the ground for huge business opportunities and interactions among various stakeholders not only in tourism but in many other fields as well that would result from the mega trade show.
ATM Dubai is a rather very useful show for the Indian outbound industry as the latest reports show the growing numbers of Indian travellers visiting the Middle East. Though ITB Berlin and WTM London are bigger shows in terms of size and shape; but for the Indian outbound market, other than its two local shows, SATTE in New Delhi and OTM in Mumbai, ATM Dubai is the next best opportunity for doing actual business.
Business networking at ATM Dubai, 2019
According to a pre-COVID-19 survey, the number of Indian tourists travelling to the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) was expected to increase 81 pc from 5.4 million in 2018 to 9.8 million in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 10 pc. In 2018, the UAE welcomed 2.89 million Indian tourists and had expected the figure to reach 5.29 million by 2024, increasing at a CAGR of 11 pc. Adding to this, India retained its top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets for its inbound tourism, with almost a million Indian tourists arriving in the emirate during the first half of 2019.
With the COVID-19 disaster and India going for an early lockdown extending it by weeks, all these figures will definitely change, but when the business will resume, rather than looking at South East Asia, Indians will tend to prefer the Middle East as a result of general sceptic decision to stay away from China and the region. Countries which play an important part in Indian outbound tourism like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and now Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Macao will have to aggressively compete with ‘much safer’ middle-eastern destinations, especially the UAE.
Colliers International, an international data research agency had predicted that more than 20 pc of India’s total outbound market would travel to the GCC by 2024 – with business, place of work and leisure underpinning this demand.
This projected growth was supported by a number of key stakeholders in the region, from immigration initiatives and mega-events to hotels, F&B venues, resorts, theme parks and malls – all of which appeal to Indian travellers.
One-to-one meetings at ATM Dubai, 2019
“It is seriously going to affect our tourism industry. We are thankful that in India, our two important events OTM and SATTE were conducted before the outbreak took this ugly shape. But many of our travel trade partners feel that the discussions initiated or continued in India in Mumbai and Delhi got a jerk as they normally take things forward in ITB Berlin or ATM Dubai as these two international shows take place right after our events. Indian tourists, business travellers, migrant workers make a large difference to most of the Middle East. We are looking for a solution to save the industry but until travel resumes nothing will make any sense,” Riaz Munshi, the president of OTOAI (Outbound Tour Operators Association of India) tells India Outbound.
In 2018, Indian tourists accounted for approximately 26.1 million of total outbound trips made, with reports from the UNWTO which had estimated this figure to increase by 92 pc to reach more than 50 million by 2022. Indian tourists are among the world’s highest spenders while travelling abroad, with outbound travel and tourism expenditure to increase from US$21.4 billion in 2018 to US$39.3 billion by 2024. On an average, Indian travellers spent approximately US$1,100 per trip made to the GCC in 2018, with business and experience-seeking tourists likely to spend at least 15 pc more per trip, according to the latest data by Euromonitor International, another international research agency.
“We do large to small groups in the middle-eastern countries especially Dubai is a tourism hotspot. With MICE taking the biggest blow, our business is too much damaged. Compared to a few south-eastern destinations, the middle east was extremely popular among the Indians due to closer proximity, easy flight connections and similarity in lifestyle and culture,” tells Sanjeev Mehra, the director of Aaryan Leisure & Holidays, a leading outbound tour operator from Kolkata to India Outbound.
“As Expo 2020 was to take place this year, and many Indian outbound tour operators and big agencies became authorised ticket resellers and created special tour packages investing a lot of money. With the chances of Expo 2020 to be cancelled looming large, that investment has also gone down under,” says Himanshu Patil, the director of Kesari Tours, one of the leading destination management companies based out of Mumbai to India Outbound.
