ATM promotes Dubai’s appeal as year-round tourism destination

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), whose 2013 edition ends this week at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, plans to continue with a fresh wave of activities in the days to come in pursuance of its new vision.
Its activities include a series of seminars focusing on online travel developments and hosting speakers and presenters from across the industry, as part of its efforts to make the future ATMs much more interesting and appealing to exhibitors and participants.
This year's ATM, which had a grand opening on May 6, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Over the past two decades, ATM has grown to be "one of the greatly — if not the most — anticipated events in the industry of travel, hospitality and tourism of the region," said Mark Walsh, portfolio director of ATM in his welcome address. When ATM first started in 1994, there were only 300 exhibitors occupying just two halls with 3,000 square meters, whereas this year's exhibition welcomed over 2,000 exhibitors spread across 8 halls with 22,000 square meters, he added.
As a market, the tourism sector has witnessed significant growth and economic prosperity in many countries around the world. Dubai had its share of this growth over the past two decades as the city's development of a strong infrastructure supported its position as a global gateway for leisure and business.
Confirming this, Helal Saeed Al-Marri, general director of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai, said: "The focus of 2013 is on furthering the appeal of the emirates as year-round tourism destination, promoting our exciting and diverse calendar of events and activities which cater to each of our market segments."
ATM showcased hundreds of destinations, air travel companies, cruises, hotels and resorts as well as travel agencies. Many of the exhibitors are recognized to be among the most important game players in the industry of travel and tourism from all around the world, such as The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, Grand Hyatt, Six Senses Resorts and Spas, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Booking.com, Saudi Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and Emirates, to name a few.
Some of the region's new players have also taken their place in ATM. Vida hotels and resort, which the recently-launched hotel chain from Emaar hospitality was promoting their new hotel located at the prestigious Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard, Downtown Dubai. Arab News had the chance to meet with Vida General Manager Stefan Viard, which presented the new hotel chain.
"We have just launched Vida a few days ago, Vida is the Spanish word for life, it is all about being alive to inspire which is our tag line. We are really looking forward to create a niche product in Dubai; it is an upscale four-star hotel which is a good addition the Emaar hospitality family which consists of The Address, Armani and now Vida," he said.
Viard added: "We have closed one of our properties, Kamareddine hotel, which we had taken over last year to have it completely refurbished. Initially we had 187 rooms and we took them down to 156 in order to create more vibrant restaurant space. Now we have five outlets in total, which three of them are managed by us while the other two are out leased."
On the new concept of the hotel, Viard explains: "We were able to create bigger room categories, so now we have additional junior suites and a very nice two bedroom suite and additional connecting rooms. The biggest change though is that opened up to the Boulevard side which was completely close, so now guests can choose to access from the Boulevard side or from the back entrance."
On Vida's expansion and future plans, Viard said: "The closest neighbor is AlManzil Hotel which has just been renamed as AlManzil Hotel Downtown Dubai managed by Vida hotels and resorts. This is the first step and there are discussions of potential expansion whether in Dubai or outside."
On Vida's participation in ATM, he said: "It is going really well now that the business is picking up, and we have received very positive feedback after we have announced the brand as people are very curious about the hotel, especially that it is linked to Emaar and everybody knows The Address hotels so they are very keen to know more about it and we have a few surprises for our guests once they come when we open in June 2013. It's a different concept and it's not what you see in Dubai quite often. It starts from the recruitment process up to the service delivered in the hotel itself, I can promise you it will be very inspiring."