DUBAI, 5 October 2022: Arabian Travel Market has announced the theme ‘Working Towards Net Zero’ for its 2023 edition, which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 1 to 4 May.
RX (Reed Exhibitions), the organiser of ATM, will celebrate its 30th annual event by unveiling a sustainability pledge to make the ATM 2023 event more sustainable and to announce 30 long-term goals as ATM works towards net zero in line with the RX Global pledge.
Arabian Travel Market exhibition director Danielle Curtis said: “If the UAE and the wider Middle East are to achieve their net zero ambitions, the travel and tourism industry will play a vital role, given its share of regional economic activity and, of course, its growth potential.
“With COP27 being held in Sharm El Sheikh this year and COP28 in Dubai in 2023, it is essential that hotels, airlines, leisure resorts and all associated companies start to put their sustainability strategies in place. While unveiling our strategic path to net zero, ATM 2023 will also provide an ideal platform for industry players to engage with sustainability experts and their peers to address the challenges of achieving net zero.”
According to a World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) report, travel and tourism account for 8 to 11% of the world’s emissions, which is considered high for a service industry. It also revealed that 42% of the travel and tourism businesses currently have publicly announced climate targets. Still, the assurances and pledges are often criticised despite the volume of events focusing on sustainability. There is little to show for all the talking besides posturing and the feel-good factor.
61% of travellers say they want to travel more sustainably in the future and over 80% of travellers plan to prioritise sustainability in their travels in the coming year.
Research by Skift and McKinsey has found that globally, more than 3,500 organisations across all industries have set emission-reduction targets, including airlines, hotels, restaurants, and those providing leisure and tourism services. Air travel alone is predicted to account for 12 to 27% of global emissions by 2050, and 40% of travellers globally say they are willing to pay at least 2% more for carbon-neutral flight tickets.
“Compounding the challenges of reaching net zero, travel activity is expected to soar by 85% from 2016 to 2030,” added Curtis.
ATM 2023 will offer global travel trade professionals a vision of how the travel and tourism industry will look in the coming years by sharing new and insightful commentary from experts from worldwide throughout the four-day event.
ATM 2022 attracted over 24,000 visitors and hosted over 31,000 participants, including 1,600 exhibitors and attendees from 151 countries, across ten halls at Dubai World Trade Centre.
