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- The travel sector has been resilient in facing the challenges presented by the pandemic, says Clark
- Demand in leisure and hospitality will continue to be robust
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Sir Timothy Clark, President, Emirates Airline, has addressed travel and tourism delegates at Arabian Travel Market 2023. Speaking on the Global Stage with renowned aviation commentator John Strickland, Clark discussed the resurgence in passenger numbers that is being witnessed by the airline industry worldwide, as well as the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Addressing the performance of Emirates in the post-pandemic era, Clark said: “We used the period during the pandemic to carefully organise our resources and devise a solid plan which allowed us to kick-start as soon as skies opened again. After 30 years of operating the world’s largest airline and as one of the flagship carriers of the UAE, there simply was no option to sit back and stop.”
In the last quarter, Dubai has welcomed five million visitors, already exceeding pre-pandemic numbers. According to Clark, demand will continue to be as robust as it has been recently, and the leisure and hospitality sectors will see a big uptick in the next five to 10 years.
As ATM 2023 focuses on ‘Working Towards Net Zero’ Clark touched on the airline’s sustainability strategy: “The fuel from the aviation industry accounts for 2-2.5% of global emissions. As passenger numbers grow, so must our efforts to mitigate our carbon footprint. Emirates runs a number of sustainability initiatives across the business. Our first flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) took to the skies in 2017 and earlier this year we operated a demonstration flight using 100% SAF. We also recycled 500,000 kilograms of plastic and glass over the course of 2022. As far as we can, we try to offset.”
Elsewhere on the agenda:
On the Travel Tech Stage, day three of ATM 2023 opened with a look at the Investment Trends Leading Travel Tech, while Strategic Sustainability Planning was the focus of discussion this morning at The Sustainability Hub. As ATM celebrates 30 years, speakers gathered on the Global Stage today to reflect on the past three decades of tourism in the Emirates during The Success of Tourism for the UAE: 30 Years On.
The momentum continues for the final day of ATM 2023 tomorrow with a diverse schedule of insightful sessions. On the Global Stage, the day will begin with a panel discussion on the benefits of engaging young people in the tourism industry, with an emphasis on preparing for sustainable goals.
There are also a number of sessions taking place on the Travel Tech Stage tomorrow based around the theme, ‘Bridging the Gap in Technology’, covering areas such as NDC and ChatGPT among many others. A session on Rural Tourism is set to be a highlight of the final day at the Sustainability Hub.
ATM 2023 is held in conjunction with Dubai World Trade Centre and its strategic partners include Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as the Destination Partner, Emirates as the Official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as the Official Hotel Partner and Al Rais Travel as the Official DMC Partner.
The latest ATM news stories are available at https://hub.wtm.com/category/press/atm-press-releases/.
To register for ATM 2023, please log on to: https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb/enquire.html.
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For more information log on to wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html
About Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 30th year, is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2022 attracted over 24,000 visitors and hosted over 31,000 participants including 1,600 exhibitors and attendees from 151 countries, across 10 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai
Next in-person event: Monday 1 to Thursday 4 May 2023, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html
About Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2023. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes ILTM Arabia, ARIVAL Dubai, Influencers’ events and activations, ITIC, GBTA Business Travel Forums, as well as ATM Travel Tech. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, ATM Speed Networking Events as well as a series of country forums. https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html
About RX (Reed Exhibitions)
RX is in the business of building businesses for individuals, communities and organisations. We elevate the power of face-to-face events by combining data and digital products to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 400 events in 22 countries across 43 industry sectors. RX is passionate about making a positive impact on society and is fully committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.rxglobal.com
RELX About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalisation is approximately £33bn, €39bn, $47bn.*
*Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors
World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events, online portals and virtual platforms across four continents. The events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. The show facilitates business connections for the global (leisure) travel community. Senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating travel industry contracts. Next live event: Monday 6 to 8 November 2023 at ExCel London http://london.wtm.com/
WTM Latin America takes place annually in the city of São Paulo and attracts around 20,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers qualified content together with networking and business opportunities. In this its ninth edition – there have been eight face-to-face events along with a 100% virtual one, which was held in 2021 – WTM Latin America continued to focus on effective business generation and achieved the advance booking of six thousand meetings that were held between buyers, travel agents and exhibitors in 2022. Next event: Tuesday 4 to Thursday 6 April 2023 – Expo Center Norte, SP, Brazil http://latinamerica.wtm.com/
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2022, WTM Africa facilitated more than 7 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 7% compared to 2019 and welcomed more than 6 thousand visitors (unaudited), the same number as in 2019.
Next event: Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 April 2023 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/
About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
WTM Global Hub, is the new WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. https://hub.wtm.com/
Media contact:
JAMES LAKIE
General Manager
Indigo Icon Tower, Jumeirah Lakes Towers
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
E-mail: james.lakie@shamalcomms.com
Website: www.shamalcomms.com
