Mubasher: The first Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Hotel Industry Summit will take place in Dubai during the period from 28 April to 1 May, according to a recent press release.

It is noteworthy that the annual Arabian Travel Market event in Dubai is organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions.

According to the report, the UAE’s hospitality market is projected to have a value of $7.6 billion annually by 2022, increasing at a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.5% during the period from 2017 to 2022. This growth is driven by Dubai’s Expo 2020, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, in addition to various other government initiatives to boost travel and tourism across the Gulf region.

From 2017 to 2022, hotel supply is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% to 183,718 keys, according to research published in a report by Alpen Capital.

“STR data shows that the GCC is expecting an additional 58,761 hotel rooms to enter the market in 2019. The leading contributors are the UAE with 31,517 rooms (53%) in the pipeline; Saudi Arabia with 24,170 (41%); and Oman with 2,984 (5%),” according to the press release.

Exhibition director ME of Arabian Travel Market, Danielle Curtis, commented, “Dubai’s hotel supply alone is expected to reach 132,000 in 2019, with the emirate aiming to complete 160,000 hotel rooms by October 2020 – in time to welcome 25 million visitors for Expo 2020.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) could raise hotel revenues by more than 10% and reduce costs by over 15% in line with expectations for hotel operators’ technology like voice and facial recognition, virtual reality, and biometrics to be mainstream by 2025.

“Hoteliers have been cautious of technology taking away the human touch from the guest service and overall experience. However, by giving guests the autonomy to choose at each touch point during their hotel stay, hoteliers can learn the right balance between staff interaction and AI-powered, automated customer service,” Curtis noted.