Arabian Travel Market will host the first ATM Global Halal Tourism summit as part of its line-up of special focus events, the organsiers have announced.
Reed Travel Exhibitions, organiser of the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai said the summit will feature experts from the Muslim travel world to discuss growth opportunities and positive economic impact.
The summit, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday April 26 April next year on the Global Stage, will also feature three interactive seminar sessions covering the big picture, halal destination strategies and how to sell halal travel.
Recent research commissioned by the Government of Dubai, and produced by Thomson Reuters in partnership with DinarStandard, found that halal tourism represents 11.6% of global tourism expenditure, estimating the sector would be worth $238 billion by 2019.
Halal tourism is defined as the provision of services and facilities that address the specific needs of Islamic travellers, such as halal food, dry hotels and separate male/female facilities.
However, it can mean different things to different people, thus creating both challenges and opportunities for the regional and global tourism sector when it comes to servicing the needs of halal tourists.
“Ninety percent of our panelists believed that there is a huge gap in the tourism market for halal cuisine, which is especially relevant as 80% also predicted a significant increase in the percentage of inbound halal business over the next five years,” said Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market.
“Launching this summit therefore presents a timely opportunity for the industry to come together to discuss opportunities, share success stories and create awareness.”
ATM, considered by many industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, witnessed a year-on-year visitor attendance increase of 8% to over 39,800 in 2016, with 2,520 exhibiting companies signing business deals worth more than $ 2.5 billion over four days.
