A U.A.E. paper has said that the annual Arabian Travel Market, ATM, exhibition and conference wrapped up in Dubai last week, offering a chance for all involved in the airline, hotel and travel industry globally to get together and showcase the best of what they have to offer.
“On the airline front, there were clear indications about the importance of Dubai and its global role in the aviation sector. The new Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, DWC, will become critical in the coming decade,” said Gulf News in its editorial on Sunday.
There were notable assurances from airlines that they will be moving long-term to the new airport. In the hotel and hospitality sector, senior executives from the leading hotel brands around the world used the ATM to indicate that they are beginning now to put concrete plans in place for rooms and facilities in the DWC corridor. This is not just because of the new airport but also because Expo 2020 is expected to draw in at least 25 million visitors to the site during the six months of the exhibition, never mind the lead up to the event itself.
“The Dubai government used the ATM as the launching pad for a re-branding of the emirate as a global destination. Indeed, when all of these components are put together, the significance is clear: Winning the Expo 2020 bid has already been noted globally, and the key players are putting their plans into action now, and the area around DWC is prepped for unprecedented growth,” concluded the paper.
Source : WAM News Agency for United Arab Emirates
