ATM fails to thrill

Despite what the headline says, I remain impressed by the Arabian Travel Market each year and the hoopla that surrounds it.

This year was no exception, from masquerade themed parties to circus performances on stands and the inevitable plethora of stress balls and brochures. Oh yes, and there was some travel trade business being done too.

It's just that the feedback from many hoteliers and visitors to the show was that this year seemed to be lacking, well, something.

Anecdotally, hotels in Dubai were not full for the week, which cannot be explained by the new supply coming onto the market alone. Hoteliers manning the stands at the event expressed surprise at their visitor levels this year.

While the number of total visitors to stands may have been similar or greater than last year, many timed their visits for the first two days of the event meaning that by day three many were at their stands with nothing to do.

Some suggested it might have had something to do with the location of the hotel companies' stands in Zabeel Hall, which created very little through traffic and forced many trade show visitors to segment their schedules.

And with the exception of several new companies launching - The Address Hotels and Resorts by Emaar generating the most attention - and a couple of hotel signing ceremonies, there was very little in the way of big hotel announcements being made.

In many cases, hoteliers said they were keeping some of their announcements to themselves so they would not become lost in the crowd. Some said they were attending ATM not to make any announcements themselves, but to meet industry colleagues and see what everyone else was doing.

A similar line was also being employed at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference, held in the days prior to ATM. With a stellar line up of industry talent and interesting topics, the event gave new meaning to the word 'networking'.

In fact, there were so many people who ignored the information sessions in favour of impromptu meetings in the breakout area that one hotelier suggested next year's line up of speaking topics should be scrapped - and replaced with three days of coffee meetings.

But while some may see the lack of big news at this year's ATM and investment conference as a negative, it could be interpreted as yet another sign of the market maturing.

With many companies moving from launch mode to consolidating their portfolios and operations, the days of grandiose announcements in the Middle East may be slowing down.

I'd be interested to hear your feedback on this year's ATM.

Chris Jackson is the editor of Hotelier Middle East.

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