ATM 2025 Forecasts: AI, Accessibility, and Sustainability Shape Travel's Future

The four-day event featuring talks and showcases of upcoming travel tendencies and goals at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) wrapped up yesterday.

Held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the region's premier travel and hospitality trade show likely saw an all-time high attendance, surpassing the previous figure of 46,000 attendees from the prior year.

Travel organizations, airlines, hotels, and technology suppliers from around the world, along with officials, business leaders, and startup founders, participated in the event.

This is what the specialists predict will be ahead for global travel in the coming years.

At the heart of the travel sector lies connectivity.

The 32nd iteration of ATM featured a wide array of panel discussions, networking gatherings, and exhibits covering fields ranging from air travel to lodging. wellness , hospitality along with MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and trade shows).

The theme for this year, "Global Travel: Enhancing Tourism for Tomorrow by Boosting Connectivity," established the direction for a program centered around how the sector can adjust to evolving preferences.

Jonathan Hesty, who serves as the portfolio director for RX Global—the organizer of— ATM highlighted that connectivity is 'extremely important for all of us, not only for organizations and destinations, but also for travelers like ourselves.'

"A linked industry enables individuals to travel globally, explore new locations they might not have visited previously, and gain knowledge about different cultures," he noted.

Industry-wise, it provides an opportunity for individuals to reach out to potential clients and enable newcomers to enjoy the attractions showcased at ATM this week.

Sustainability forms the bedrock of the tourism industry.

The main theme dominating the week was sustainability, a concept that Hesty referred to as the "bedrock of our content strategy."

The sessions encompassed various facets of eco-friendly travel, such as regenerative and responsible tourism , food waste within the hospitality sector, and ways to establish a circular economy aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of this industry.

"We’re thrilled to offer an environment where the sector can discuss this issue, exchange ideas, and develop tactics to minimize the carbon footprint of our industry," stated Hesty.

A representative from Dubai Holding Entertainment, managing several of Dubai’s prominent landmarks and family-oriented venues, emphasized that sustainability serves as "an extremely crucial foundation of our company."

We possess properties where we provide family-oriented experiences, and we feel strongly that it’s crucial to educate younger generations about this. sustainability ,” the spokesperson said.

Related

• 'Help us prevent that next disaster': Hawaii to hike hotel tax to help it cope with climate change
• Taking the train can be almost twice as fast as flying for some journeys in France

“We have very specific programmes about energy savings and waste management. We have an amazing attraction called Green Planet that is all about nature and sustainability.”

For Cristian Stanicic, who serves as the general director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, sustainable tourism involves managing visitor counts as well.

“We want to be focused more on less popular tourism destinations, smaller tourism destinations,” he said.

“And we want to extend our tourism season to pre- and after-season, not only in the summer season, because we want to avoid some scenarios that we’ve seen in other Mediterranean countries with overtourism.”

Technology is transforming the travel experience

Tech innovations were emphasized as a crucial method for transforming the visitor experience.

The CEO of the hotel marketing firm Mirai, Mohamed Abdallah Al-Zaabi, stated AI lies at the heart of their growth plan for their locations Yas Island and Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.

“One of our main goals on Yas Island and Saadiyat is to create a unique and immersive experience for our customers,” he said.

“We use big data and machine learning to better understand customer behaviour, better understand our existing data, capture data, and based on that, we customise and tailor different and new experiences.”

Similarly, Dubai Holding Entertainment said technology is key to learning about customers’ interests.

The group uses AI to understand what kind of new experiences families are looking for and, therefore, where to invest.

Journeying options available for all individuals

The discussions also focused on accessibility issues within the travel industry. Asam Kalbham, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, spoke about Dubai’s efforts towards inclusion.

DXB International Airport operates under an open skies policy, he stated, and collaborates with airlines that prioritize accessibility .

"I’m delighted to announce that we’ve just been recognized as the first city in the Eastern Hemisphere to receive certification as an autism-friendly destination," he said.

“And Emirates Airlines has got the certification as well, as well as Dubai Airport, DXP International, Expo City and other facilities.”

Kalbham emphasised that, “accessibility for us means every single person from every part of the world and all walks of life should be able to enjoy Dubai.”