The four-day Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2013 has ended with a number of new project announcements and joint venture deals.

Jeddah-based Hanco, one of the Middle East’s largest and fastest growing car rental and leasing companies, has announced the signing of a trio of alliance agreements at ATM with several Gulf-based tour operators.

This follows on from the announcement earlier this week of the launch of the group’s Dubai office, its first outside of the Kingdom, which marked the start of Hanco’s strategic expansion into the GCC, with a further five office openings scheduled for 2013.

The new alliances cover operations in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with agreements signed between Hanco and Jeddah-based Haj and Umrah tour operator Mamlakat Al-Asfar Travel & Tours, Jeddah's Qasswa Travel & Tourism Company, and the UAE’s Lama Group of Companies.

"In taking our successful business model into neighboring markets, as well as capitalizing on new opportunities within the Kingdom, we are delighted to be providing renowned Hanco service and fleet capability solutions to some of the region’s leading tour operators and Haj and Umrah specialists. This trio of signings is another step in our strategic journey, taking Hanco to new markets and developing our reputation as a market leader," said Hamad Al-Sulaiman, CEO & managing director, Hanco.

During ATM, Google announced the results of a study conducted by Ipsos to better understand the decision making process of travelers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The study, entitled "Traveler’s Road to Decision," revealed that users in both countries are tech savvy and rely on mobiles and videos when making travel decisions. The study provides in-depth data on the consumer behavior of leisure, business and affluent travelers.

The initial finding from the study is that the Web plays a key role in the decision making process for both leisure and business travelers in the UAE and in the Kingdom. Apart from direct advice from friends and family, the Internet is the number one source for trip planning for more than a third of leisure travelers surveyed (39 percent in the UAE, 38 percent in the Kingdom).

This number rises for business travelers — in the UAE it jumps to 50 percent while in Saudi Arabia it jumps to 48 percent. What leisure users are doing online varies from Saudi Arabia to the Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, leisure travelers rely on social networks and search engines as sources of information, while in the UAE they rely on search engines primarily before online videos and maps as sources of information.

According to the findings of a new Ernst & Young industry report, the next 10 years will see the aviation industry dominated by growth in the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia with consolidation in traditional markets creating a new era of streamlined operations and the introduction of a new mega-carrier business model.

These were the findings of a new Ernst & Young industry report, the results of which were revealed at ATM during an industry focus seminar session entitled "Looking to the skies: Global aviation trends 2013 - 2033."

Meanwhile, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company announced the latest property in its growing North Africa portfolio. The Ritz-Carlton Marrakech is owned by Jnan Amar Company, a subsidiary of Al-Amal Investment Company (SIAMA) part of Azmi Abdelhadi Group of Saudi Arabia.

The resort will be developed around the Jenan Amar Polo Fields, which is part of an upscale community on the Takerkoust Road, 20 km from the city center of Marrakech and 12 km from the Lalla Takerkoust lake and nature reserve. The stunning fortress style resort will feature 60 hotel suites and 20 hotel villas of two, three and five bedrooms, restaurants, a luxury spa and related leisure facilities.

Another expansion plan announcement was by Bin Majid Hotels & Resorts. The group announced an AED 150 million expansion plan covering the new corporate identity, a newly-opened hotel in Abu Dhabi and two upcoming hotels – a hotel apartment in Abu Dhabi and one in Ras Al Khaimah.

BlueBay Group’s announcement was also noticed at the ATM. The group has presented its new brand Armada BlueBay. Armada BlueBay is a magnificent 4 star resort located in Jumeirah Lakes Towers. The resort consists of 3 spectacular last-generation towers. The opening of the first Armada BlueBay hotel is scheduled for summer 2013.

Amadeus’ air traffic analysis said Saudi Arabia and the UAE had emerged as the leading Middle East countries in terms of air traffic volume while Qatar demonstrated the strongest growth. The three countries together represented over 53 percent or 52.8 million of the total 99 million passengers whose point of departure originated from the Middle East in 2012, according to Amadeus, a major technology partner to the global travel industry.

Data indicates that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar enjoyed an average growth rate of 10 percent in air traffic volume in 2012 as compared to the previous year, thus outpacing, by a large margin, the 2 percent growth experienced in the Middle East as a whole.