Reed Exhibitions (RX)the organiser of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) has announced that this year’s four-day event will now open on Monday 9 May 2022 and close on Thursday 12 May 2022,to fall in line with the UAE’s new Monday-to-Friday working week.
Taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the revised dates arealso expected to complement international markets, the majority of which also follow the Monday-to-Friday working week.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME – Arabian Travel Market, said “We are looking forward to welcoming the global travel and tourism community to the UAE on Monday 9 May 2022. Made possible by the UAE’s forward-thinking decision to transition to a 4.5-day, Monday-to-Friday workweek, we are confident ATM 2022’s updated timings will benefit both exhibitors and attendees by offering improved alignment with international markets.”
Endorsing ATM’s position, UAE business sentiment is certainly very positive. According to a poll conducted by management consultancy Mercer, overall, 84 per cent of private sector firms welcomed the initiative and 37 per cent would adopt a long-term flexible approach, particularly those with close trading links with other Gulf countries.
Now in its 29th year and working in collaboration with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Economy (DTE) – previously known as the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), ATM 2022 will feature a broad selection of show highlights.
Travel Forward, the leading global event for travel technology, will shine a spotlight on next-generation innovations for tourism and hospitality. ATM buyer forums and speed networking events will take place during the four days of the show.
After joining remotely for ATM 2021, this year will see both the ARIVALDubai@ATM forum and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) participate live in Dubai for the first time ever.
The dedicated ARIVALDubai@ATM forum will cover current and future trends for tour operators and attractions, focusing on growing business through marketing, technology, distribution, thought leadership and executive-level connections.
GBTA, the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organisation, will deliver the latest business travel content, research and education to help drive the sector’s ongoing recovery and support growth in business travel.
ATM will play an integral role in the Arabian Travel Week (9-19 May), a festival of events dedicated to enabling travel professionals from all over the world to collaborate and shape the recovery of the Middle East travel industry through exhibitions, conferences, breakfast briefings, awards, product launches and networking events.
The UAE remains one of the most COVID-secure countries on the planet, with consistently low case rates and robust measures to ensure tourists’ safety at every stage of their visit, from arrival to departure.
Like its neighbouring emirates, Dubai is committed to maintaining the highest hygiene and safety standards. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has endorsed its pandemic management, awarding the city a ‘Safe Travels’ stamp.
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The concessionaires complained of poor cooperation from state governments who mostly delay in meeting their own part of the agreement, for instance in the area of land provision.
Another major challenge they emphasised was the lack of narrow gauge rail lines in and out of the dry ports which they noted was important to make the operation of the ports efficient.
They added that access to funds also remained a major issue even as banks and foreign investors make unreasonable demands for assets and bank bonds before the release of funds.
The concessionaires unanimously stressed the need for the ports being constructed to be given the status of port of origin and destination and also to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) upon completion.
In view of the delay in execution, the concessionaires stressed the need for a new agreement, pointing out that an agreement started in 2017 between them and the NSC but it was yet to be cleared by the Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
They however commended the ICRC for its intervention and also appreciated the NSC for their support so far, noting that they were confident that under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the contracts will be sorted out.
The concessionaires pledged their commitment to see the concession to conclusion and the ports operational even as two of the concessionaires, Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd for the Katsina ports and Dala Inland Dry Port for the Kano Ports declared that their ports will commence operation before the third quarter of 2022.
Managing Director of Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Usman Iya Abbas, informed the ICRC team that the Funtua port was already at over 85 per cent completion and was ready to launch before the end of the second quarter of 2022.
“We hope to commission this project before the end of the second quarter and the ports will become functional immediately. We are lucky to have great relationships in the shipping industry and with major shipping lines.
Managing Director, Dala Inland Dry Port Ltd., Hon. Ahmed Rabiu, concessionaires of the Kano Inland Port also hinted that the construction of the container depot was already nearing completion.
He assured that the company was working assiduously to ensure project completion and take off before the end of March 2022.
On his part, ICRC’s Director of Contract Compliance Department, Dr Ewalefoh who chaired the technical session of the meeting assured the concessionaires of the continuous support of the Commission, charging them however to send a detailed update of the contract status reports to the ICRC.
The Ag. Head, Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling said he further enjoined the other four concessionaires who were yet to make remarkable progress in their contract execution to emulate the milestone recorded by the other two who were finalizing their constructions, so that the ports can yield the economic benefits for which the concessions were granted.
While thanking the stakeholders for honouring the invitation of the ICRC, it was resolved that going forward, there will be periodic meetings to ensure that the projects are speedily completed.