ATM launches 2017 exhibitor awards

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017 exhibitors will be pulling out all the stops to showcase their creative and business flair at this year’s event as organiser, Reed Travel Exhibitions, reprises its popular Best Stand Awards initiative for a third year running.

Launched in 2015, the awards recognise the design creativity and business-friendly appeal of exhibiting companies’ physical presence at the annual industry showcase.

“Arabian Travel Market would not be the huge success it is without the massive amount of effort and investment that goes into creating and manning the exhibitor stands at the show,” said Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market.

“Stand design is an extension of a company’s brand identity – so build quality, presence and visibility are essential to the overall visitor experience, not to mention the on-stand reception and hospitality. The award programme is a way of recognising these efforts and since its inception has helped produce exciting, fresh and creative designs.,” added Press.

The five categories this year are – Best Stand Design, Best Stand for Doing Business, Best Stand Feature, Best Stand Personnel and Best Stand within the Travel Tech Show at ATM.

The judges panel consists of a four-strong line-up of top industry and design professionals comprising: Leo Fewtrell, GM, Dubai Travel & Tour Agents Group (DTTAG); Fiona McAndrew-Sharp, Sales & Marketing Director, TTN; Nick Hall, MD, Digital Tourism Think Tank and Daniel Pearce, Managing Director, TTG Media.

Judging will take place on Tuesday 25th April with the winners unveiled during a photo session on the show floor the following day. With more than 2,500 exhibiting companies spread across 12 exhibition halls covering the full spectrum of the travel and tourism industry, the judging panel will have a lot of ground to cover.

The criteria for the Best Stand Design award focuses on identifying an eye-catching stand that has a novel creative design that makes the best use of its available space. It should also appear inviting from a visitor perspective and have outstanding presence in the halls, attracting a high level of visitor traffic.

The winner of the Best Stand for Doing Business will need to create a busy B2B atmosphere and present a well-planned and easy-to-navigate layout with a good presentation of the stand and its services.

The Best Stand Feature accolade will recognise the stand with the most visual impact and good use of features to showcase cultural characteristics and draw in visitors.

It’s not all about aesthetics, however, says Press: “It’s vitally important to have good people skills, to look your best and be able to interact well with visitors. We are in the hospitality industry after all, and this will be rewarded with the Best Stand Personnel award.”

The final award is the Most Innovative Stand within the Travel Tech Show at ATM, which shines a light on the importance of technology to the industry and reward exhibitors with a tech focus.

Once the winners have been selected, they will be put to the public vote for a chance to walk away with the coveted People’s Choice Award. Calls for votes will be made via social media, with the winner announced on Wednesday 26th April. All the results will be shared to a global audience via ATM’s social media platforms.

ATM, considered by many industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, will strive to build on the success of its previous edition as Reed Travel Exhibitions looks to add to its record-breaking achievements. ATM 2016 witnessed a year-on-year visitor attendance increase of 8% to over 39,800 people, with 2,520 exhibiting companies signing business deals worth more than US$ 2.5 billion over four days.