The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021 has announced that Dubai will conduct the world's biggest in-person travel and tourism event since the pandemic began last year.

ATM 2021, now in its 28th year, will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May, as final arrangements are made.

“The concept of this year's exhibition is ‘A new beginning for travel and tourism,' and the spotlight will be on the very latest ‘COVID' headlines from around the globe – vaccination rollouts, the emerging status of the market, and, most notably, what the future will bring,” said Claude Blanc, Portfolio Director, WTM& IBTM Portfolios.

ATM 2021 includes 67 conference sessions and about 145 state, local, and international presenters. On-site, there would be a Global Stage with a hotel industry summit, devoted consumer panels for Saudi Arabia and China, and International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC), an aviation forum, and a special session on Gulf-Israeli connections.

Travel Forward at ATM that has world-class technology specialists with industry-leading perspectives on the new developments and innovations that will inevitably form the future of travel and tourism, will be another feature this year.

This year's show floor features 62 nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Germany, Cyprus, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Maldives, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, and the United States.

“This highlights the significance of ATM in linking destinations with their source markets,” said Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director Middle East, Arabian Travel Industry.

ATM 2021 would be conducted in nine halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre. There will be 11,000 people inside the halls at every given time, following the current density limits and social distancing rules and regulations.

The occasion will once again be a part of Arabian Travel Week, a 10-day festival of travel and tourism activities held in Dubai and online. In parallel to the in-person Arabian Travel Market, the travel activities that are part of Arabian Travel Week are: travel technology exhibition Travel Forward, ARRIVAL Dubai for the tours and attractions industry, GBTA's half-day virtual business travel meeting, and ARRIVAL Dubai for the tours and attractions sector, ITIC's Middle East Tourism Investment Summit, pace networking activities for digital influencers and regionally based buyer classes, including China, and, of course, ATM Virtual, the ATM exhibition's online version.

For maybe the first time in ATM history, a modern hybrid layout would mean a virtual ATM functioning a week later to supplement and attract a larger audience than it's ever been this year. ATM Virtual, which debuted last year, was a smashing hit, drawing 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries.

“This is critical that we have a virtual aspect because many business professionals from all over the world might not be able to attend in-person every year, specifically this year with travel bans evolving rapidly across the globe,” Curtis said.

“Dubai was awarded a ‘Safe Travels' stamp by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) owing to its contribution to upholding the highest level of health and safety and its successful nationwide handling of the pandemic,” Curtis explained.

Dubai is among the safest countries in the world to visit, with a variety of precautionary steps in effect to guarantee the safety of visitors at any step and touchpoint of their travel trip, from arrival to departure. About 10.6 million doses have now been provided in the UAE, which is a significant accomplishment.

ATM 2021's strategic partners involve Dubai Tourism as the Destination Partner, Emaar Hospitality Group as the Official Hotel Partner, Emirates as the Official Airline Partner, and The Vision as the Official Destination Management Partner. “As Dubai welcomes the Arabian Travel Market during such a challenging era, it is testimony to the city's courageous actions in heading the reboot of global tourism, motivated and driven by our visionary leadership to portray Dubai as one of the world's safest places,” said Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).

“It is remarkable that Dubai has demonstrated a strong model for international travel and tourism recovery through a validated system for bringing back tourists safely and ensuring they enjoy a very well destination experience, and also our capacity to turn difficulties into prospects.”

“With industry experts from all over the world expected to assemble in the city this month, we look forward to discussing Dubai's optimistic outlook during ATM 2021, while reinforcing how important it must be to constantly keep the health and welfare of travelers at the top of the priority list to promote the tourism industry.”

“An event like ATM is crucial in helping our industry to find its direction, share new developments, work collectively to further restore trust in travel, and simply do business,” said Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline.