ATM’s travel tech area sold-out sees 56% year-on-year growth

More than 100 of the world’s leading travel technology companies will be exhibiting at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024, which will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) in the UAE from May 6 to 9.

ATM 2024’s sold-out Travel Tech space will be 56 percent bigger than last year with 33 percent more exhibitors participating this year, thanks to unprecedented demand from companies looking to showcase their innovations in front of a global audience.

Sponsored by Sabre, the ATM Future Stage – formerly known as the Travel Tech Stage – will host over a hundred expert speakers from across the global travel and tourism industry, plus a diverse selection of cutting-edge innovations designed to improve efficiency and profitability within the sector.

Delegates will explore how advanced tech can be leveraged to drive improvements across a range of segments, including payment, professional development, accessibility, sustainability and more.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “My colleagues and I are delighted to introduce the ATM Future Stage, which will harness the ever-increasing levels of innovation our industry is witnessing while building on the long-standing success of our Travel Tech offering.”

The global travel technology market was valued at $9.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $21 billion by 2032, according to Allied Market Research. The ATM Future Stage will host a selection of presentations and sessions designed to highlight opportunities within this space.

These include Navigating the Future: A Futurist’s Prediction, Strategic Capabilities and Implications of AI within Business, Putting the Traveller First with AI and Unlocking the Value of Travel: Harnessing Technology for Enhanced Traveler Journeys, which will be held in association with Amadeus.

This year’s show will see the return of the ATM Start-up Pitch Battle, which will be held in association with Intelak. The third edition of the competition will see a number of the region’s most promising startups take to the Future Stage to showcase a range of innovative and potentially industry-changing solutions in front of expert judges.

Several Travel Tech exhibitors also plan to get involved in other areas of ATM 2024. Tech giant Huawei, for instance, will sponsor this year’s Capitalising on China’s Predicted Tourism Surge summit on the ATM Global Stage.

Confirmed tech exhibitors include Hotelbeds, TBO.com, WebBeds, Moonline Travel and Trade, Trip.com, HeyTrip and Verteil Technologies, plus returning brands such as Travelport, The Travelbook Group, HotelRunner, gtbeds, iTrip, Techno Heaven, QuadLabs, Cover Genius, Fly Today, Traveazy, Multireisen, City Travel DMCC and Illusions.

First-time exhibitors include ExploreTECH, iClick bedsopia.com, OneVasco, GP Solutions, WegoPro, Mondee, Triple-A, Typsy, Nativex, Tour Review and SophiOutsourcing.

“With an exciting combination of ambitious startups and well-established brands, this year’s Travel Tech space is perfectly aligned with ATM 2024’s theme, ‘Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship’,” added Curtis.

ATM 2024 will also feature a ‘Best Use of Technology’ award at its annual exhibitor awards for the first time. Exhibitors will be evaluated on how and to what extent they have embraced and deployed technology on their stands.

In line with its theme, ‘Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship’, the 31st edition of ATM will once again host policymakers, industry leaders and travel professionals from across the Middle East and beyond, encouraging them to forge new relationships, exchange knowledge and identify innovations that can reshape the future of global travel and tourism.

From startups to established brands, the upcoming show will highlight how innovators enhance customer experiences, drive efficiencies, and accelerate progress towards a net-zero future for the industry.

‘Wale Olapade