Making the most of the show

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ATM is an unprecedented opportunity for hoteliers to connect with the travel trade.

Hotelier Middle East talks to exhibitors at the upcoming Arabian Travel Market about their hopes for the big event, and how they plan to maximise their company's exposure to a global audience.

What are you hoping to get out of ATM this year?

Our participation at ATM is to strengthen our regional presence and to support our expansion plans reaching a portfolio of 62 properties by 2012. We are in negotiations for new properties and perhaps we will be announcing new projects during ATM.

Furthermore, we will be re-emphasising the launch of our exciting new brand structure with two unique additional offerings within the Rotana portfolio, Rayhaan by Rotana, which is the alcohol-free hotels and resorts, and Arjaan by Rotana, for the first-class hotel apartments.

Rotana Hotels president and chief executive Selim El Zyr

This year is the biggest year ever on our stand, with an impressive 24 hotels participating under the Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts banner.

The main reason for exhibiting at ATM is that May is an opportune time for our hotels to capitalise on summer business and for the travel agents and tour operators to negotiate summer packages.

Particular attention is being paid this year to the outbound business to Europe, Asia and Mauritius as well as intraregional markets such as the GCC, Jordan, UAE and Lebanon.

Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts vice president sales and marketing Toufic Tamim

Arabian Travel Market offers the ideal opportunity to get the buzz of the hospitality and tourism industry. In other words it acts as a global showcase for the industry's new and upcoming developments. The region's most significant deals are unveiled and crafted there.

With 10 hotels already operational and 15 under development, Coral International Hotels, Resorts and Spas is going through a very exciting phase.

We have recently signed some amazing projects that we are going to announce during the ATM. In addition, we are hoping to work out some new deals.

Coral International Hotels, Resorts and Spas managing director Michel Noblet

ATM is a prolific industry platform for us; we target and educate visitors and potential partners/investors about the new brands we intend to introduce to this market, such as Double Tree by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn.

Our primary objective will be to promote and sell our worldwide as well as regional portfolio to Middle East tour operators and travel agents.

At ATM 2008 we will be announcing our new operational strategy and our development pipeline - highlighting our particular focus on key growth markets identified in the Middle East: Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

We are ambitiously working towards doubling our Middle East and Africa portfolio within the next five years.

Our focus at ATM this year is our three new hotel openings: the new-look Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa which opens this winter following a complete facelift; in the UAE, Hilton's first residential offering, the 44-storey Hilton Jumeirah Beach Residence, is set for a November 2008 opening; and we will mark our entry into Qatar with the 324-room Hilton Doha scheduled to open in January 2009.

Hilton Hotels regional director of sales and marketing Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean Guy Epsom

During the Arabian Travel Market 2008, we are eager to meet with Middle East travel agents, Travel Management Companies (TMC), hosted buyers, potential clients and prospective investors and developers to showcase Jumeirah's luxury portfolio of hotels and resorts in Dubai, London and New York, our luxury five-star hotels and resorts under development in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Aqaba, Doha, Phuket, Shanghai, Bermuda, Mallorca and London as well as our Jumeirah Living and Talise brands.

Our objective at ATM is to share Jumeirah's development strategy and plans for the future with our current partners, strengthen existing relationships and use this forum as an opportunity to source new business, gain an understanding of prospective client's needs and ensure they receive relevant information.

Jumeirah regional director of sales - Gulf Thomas Grundner

ATM, being the largest trade exhibition for the hospitality industry in the Middle East, is a unique opportunity for Starwood Hotels and Resorts to introduce some of our key brands.

Following that tradition of growth built on our Sheraton and Le Méridien footprint, the future is to introduce and expand our other powerful brands.

Over the last three years, the company's efforts have been focused on strengthening our lead in the upper upscale and luxury segments by differentiating our brands with both the development community and consumers. In addition, we are focused on opening hotels in key locations.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Middle East regional director of sales and marketing Ahmed Baki

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