Emirates globe makes friends around the world at Arabian Travel Market

The attention-grabbing stand, which rises as high as a three-storey building and commands a 484 square metre footprint, has captured widespread attention at the ATM, held May 1st-4th, at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The Globe, which took around ten months to build and almost 22,000 labour hours, has provided the platform for dozens of business meetings, a wealth of consumer and trade information, and multi-million dollar deals involving the quickly expanding Emirates Group. This year, the group primarily showcased Emirates Hotels & Resorts, its new premier hospitality management division.

On the first day of the ATM, Emirates Hotels & Resorts announced a historic new project in Mahe, Seychelles, slated to open in 2010 with an investment of US$253 million (AED 929 million). It is the largest international investment by Emirates Hotels & Resorts and one of the largest ever in the islands of Seychelles.

Construction of the Emirates Cap Ternay Resort & Spa will start in 2008, with the resort's two distinct areas spread over 22 acres of beachfront land. The main resort will feature 186 rooms, planned for families and budget-conscious travellers and 230 deluxe rooms - presented as semi-detached, cottage-style complexes.

Emirates Hotels & Resorts will directly employ over 700 staff for the resort's operations and provide training and career development to Seychellois staff.

On day two of the ATM, EmQuest, the rebranded travel services provider of the Emirates Group, welcomed three new customers. H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive Emirates Airline and Group, signed contracts with BCD Travel, Al Rais Travel and AIG Travel, as EmQuest continues to roll out services that ease the travel booking process.

In another key development, Premier Travel Inn, the UK's biggest hotel brand known for offering value-for-money rooms, secured US$54 million (AED 200 million) in financing through the National Bank of Dubai and Emirates Bank International, to develop its first three properties in Dubai.

The financing agreement paves the way for Premier Travel Inn's international debut outside of the UK, under a joint venture between the Emirates Group and the UK's leading hospitality group Whitbread Plc.

Mike Simon, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications said: 'Once again, it has been both important and a pleasure to support the Arabian Travel Market, as we have done since it started. We knew the Emirates Globe, reflecting the global aspirations of Emirates, would be popular and it certainly has been. So much activity has taken place on all three floors and around the stand's 65 metre circumference. The Emirates Globe and the One Continent theme was also the perfect platform for travel and tourism deals of international significance.'

On the ground floor of the stand, visitors could easily have been tempted to check-in to the Emirates Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve or the Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa in the Blue Mountains of Australia. Experiential displays, including actual furniture and wildlife sound effects brought the secluded locations right into the hustle and bustle of the ATM.

Touch screen facilities and special models provided information from across the Emirates Group, including Emirates Marina Hotel & Residence (opening September 2007 in Dubai), Emirates Green Lakes Serviced Apartments (opening early 2008 in Dubai), and Emirates Park Towers Hotel & Residence - scheduled for completion in 2010, also in Dubai.

On the first floor, there were plush areas for business meetings, supported by bar and catering facilities and surrounded by eye-catching graphics. The top floor of this ultra-contemporary stand provided a large VIP area for hosting guests.

The outside skin of the 9.5 metre high globe consists of 288 panels. Each panel is individually printed with a small part of the world and together they create one of the largest photographic images of the earth, seen from space, ever printed.

On the fringes of the stand, visitors were able to experience the facilities in Emirates Airline First Class (available on the Airbus A340-500) in a specially recreated cabin area.

The 14th ATM has broken all records with increases in visitor, industry and media attendance figures. Preliminary statistics show 12,305 visitors - representing a 10.4 percent in overseas visitors and a 5.3 percent increase for local visitors. Overall industry attendance rose 8 percent to 22,655, while turnout by Meridian Club Members, the VIP club operated by Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), which organises the event, climbed 7.3 percent.

The show also attracted a record number of journalists, some 977 in the first three days of the show. The first three days of the ATM are reserved mostly for business, before consumers arrive at the end of the third day - and during day four, the final day of the event.

'Judging by statistics, each day was an important business day, showing that the Arabian Travel Market is a true leader for the travel and tourism industry, said Mark Walsh, RTE Group Exhibition Director - Overseas Events.

Mr. Walsh continued: 'As the curtain came down on the 2007 edition of the annual event, exhibitors were tallying onsite business intake which spanned new spa deals for hotels, group outbound and inbound contracts, new convention and meetings events and quotations on overseas cruises. This has been yet another record breaking show, with a steady stream of new visitors every day and repeat visits by our Meridian Club Members, at 36 percent, on all three days to see the huge variety of business travel products at the event.'

The ATM is the region's leading travel and tourism exhibition - and this year's was the biggest so far, with registrations from 2,600 exhibitors covering 64 countries, from as far a field as Peru and China.