18 April 2013
GROWTH in exhibitors from Turkey, Morocco and Egypt as industry looks to expand GCC tourism receipts to offset potential declines from austerity-hit eurozone.
The ongoing effects of the eurozone crisis has prompted popular Mediterranean destinations to target growth opportunities in the GCC markets at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) which reports a sell-out show ahead of next month's 20th anniversary event.
The latest statistics from ATM organizer, Reed Travel Exhibitions, revealed that demand from new exhibitors at ATM, which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on May 6-9, 2013, has pushed show floor space to a record of over 22,000 square meters, a 6 percent increase over last year.
In addition there are 27 more exhibition stands than last year, up 7 percent and an impressive 98 new companies covering over 2,160 sqm that will be exhibiting.
Geographically two of the best performing regions were Europe and North Africa. Each region has grown by 20 percent and 36 percent respectively to cover almost 4,000 sqm combined, or 18 percent of the total exhibition space available, as hotels and resorts on the Mediterranean coast in particular, look for a larger share of the GCC outbound market.
"Exhibitor demand from countries on the Mediterranean coast, have been particularly strong this year as the tourism industries in Turkey, Morocco and Egypt turn their attention to the outbound GCC market," said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
"GCC travelers with their high disposable income levels are naturally a key target market for Mediterranean destinations, but with traditional Western European source markets facing tough economic challenges, which could cause tourism receipts to decline, the relevance of the GCC markets becomes even more pronounced," he added.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism office in Dubai, the number of tourists travelling to Turkey from the GCC region has increased significantly in the past few years, with over 370 percent growth from the UAE, 331 percent for Kuwait and almost 600 percent from Qatar for the period to August 2012 versus 2011.
GROWTH in exhibitors from Turkey, Morocco and Egypt as industry looks to expand GCC tourism receipts to offset potential declines from austerity-hit eurozone.
The ongoing effects of the eurozone crisis has prompted popular Mediterranean destinations to target growth opportunities in the GCC markets at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) which reports a sell-out show ahead of next month's 20th anniversary event.
The latest statistics from ATM organizer, Reed Travel Exhibitions, revealed that demand from new exhibitors at ATM, which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on May 6-9, 2013, has pushed show floor space to a record of over 22,000 square meters, a 6 percent increase over last year.
In addition there are 27 more exhibition stands than last year, up 7 percent and an impressive 98 new companies covering over 2,160 sqm that will be exhibiting.
Geographically two of the best performing regions were Europe and North Africa. Each region has grown by 20 percent and 36 percent respectively to cover almost 4,000 sqm combined, or 18 percent of the total exhibition space available, as hotels and resorts on the Mediterranean coast in particular, look for a larger share of the GCC outbound market.
"Exhibitor demand from countries on the Mediterranean coast, have been particularly strong this year as the tourism industries in Turkey, Morocco and Egypt turn their attention to the outbound GCC market," said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
"GCC travelers with their high disposable income levels are naturally a key target market for Mediterranean destinations, but with traditional Western European source markets facing tough economic challenges, which could cause tourism receipts to decline, the relevance of the GCC markets becomes even more pronounced," he added.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism office in Dubai, the number of tourists travelling to Turkey from the GCC region has increased significantly in the past few years, with over 370 percent growth from the UAE, 331 percent for Kuwait and almost 600 percent from Qatar for the period to August 2012 versus 2011.
© The Saudi Gazette 2013
