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Chinese exhibitors and travel professionals will return for the first time in three years to the 30th edition of Arabian Travel Fair (ATM) 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) from 1-4 May.
China lifted covid-related travel restrictions on January 8, 2023, allowing Chinese tourists to travel abroad without quarantining upon return. Overseas travel bookings during the Lunar New Year period jumped 540% compared with the same period in 2022, according to Chinese travel website Trip.com.
Also, in a CNN report, Steve Saxon, a partner at McKinsey in Shenzhen, predicted that China’s outbound travel market will recover to around 6 million per month by summer 2023, due in part to pent-up demand, especially from The needs of young, wealthy Chinese.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market ME, said: “China became the world’s largest source market in 2019, with 155 million tourists spending more than US$250 billion overseas. However, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, in the past three years, , which cuts the industry off from the global market, costing the industry an estimated $840 billion, equivalent to 16% of the $1.7 trillion in annual global travel spending.”
Dubai welcomed nearly 1 million Chinese tourists in 2019, an increase of more than 15% compared to 2018. While Dubai received 154,000 Chinese tourists in the first 11 months of 2022, this is an 83% drop compared to the same period in 2020 and a year-on-year increase of 115%, which is a boon for not only Dubai, but the wider Middle East tourism industry. good sign.
Popular destinations such as Dubai, AlUla in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, which have been marketing outbound travel to Chinese business-to-consumer and business-to-business, should be well-positioned to benefit from an expected rebound in Chinese visitor numbers .
“We have noticed a high volume of inquiries from Chinese tourism professionals recently. Although we do not expect the same number of Chinese exhibitors and visitors as in 2019, we are confident in the healthy participation numbers this year,” she added.
Considering the tight schedule, ATM 2023 has already confirmed the participation of major Chinese exhibitors such as FLIGHTROUTES24 Travel, Shenzhen Haoyun International Travel Service and Travel World China, with more bookings expected before the show.
ATM also partnered with Dragon Trail International to organize a dedicated session on its global stage entitled “China Back on the Map: Macro and Micro Implications”.
Panel of speakers including Sienna Parulis-Cook, Director of Marketing and Communications, Dragon Trail International, Peggy Li, CEO and Chief Problem Solvers, sps:affinity, and Winnie Chiu, President, Dorsett Hospitality Group, will discuss the latest trends driving Chinese tourism to the Middle East recovery.
Business travel will be an integral part of the tourism revival. According to a recent survey by the Shanghai Institute of International Studies and PwC China, more than 75% of Chinese companies surveyed hope to enter or expand their business in the Middle East in the next three to five years, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia topping the list of investment destination of the recipient.
“I believe the Middle East will experience a surge in Chinese tourism reminiscent of the rebound in Europe and India that we witnessed in late 2021 and early 2022,” Curtis said.
Other highlights of ATM 2023 include exploring the future of sustainable tourism under its theme ‘Strive for Net Zero’. With the official launch of Net Zero Journeys, the conference program will explore how innovative sustainable travel trends may evolve. It will enable delegates to identify growth strategies within key verticals, while providing a platform for regional experts to explore a sustainable future ahead of COP28, which will take place in Dubai Expo City in November 2023.
The conference will also, for the first time, include a sustainability category in its annual exhibitor awards. Exhibiting organizations will be recognized based on how much they consider the environmental impact of their booth and their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.
ATM 2023 is co-hosted with Dubai World Trade Center with strategic partners including Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as Destination Partner, Emirates as Official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as Official Hotel Partner and Al Rais traveling as an official DMC partner. – trade arab news agency
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