Arabian Travel Market 2026 opens in Dubai amid record tourism growth

Dubai: The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2026 opens tomorrow (14/09/2026) at the Dubai World Trade Centre, with expectations of attracting more than 55,000 participants from across the global travel and tourism industry. The event will run until 17 September and comes as Dubai continues to benefit from record visitor numbers and strong hotel sector performance, alongside growing investments in tourism, aviation, hospitality and travel technology. Arabian Travel Market is one of the region's leading business platforms for the tourism industry, bringing together airlines, hotels, tourism destinations, investors, technology companies, tour operators and business events specialists. This year's edition places innovation and technology at the centre of discussions, with a particular focus on how the travel industry could evolve over the next 15 years. Key themes include artificial intelligence in trip planning, smart mobility solutions, augmented and virtual reality, sustainability and emerging technologies in the aviation sector. The exhibition comes amid expectations of strong growth in the Middle East's tourism sector. According to Arabian Travel Market data, the value of the region's tourism industry is expected to double by 2030, driven by expanding air connectivity and continued investment in hotels, tourism infrastructure and new destinations. The event also builds on Dubai's record tourism performance. The emirate welcomed 19.59 million international visitors in 2025, up 5 per cent from 18.72 million visitors in 2024, marking a third consecutive year of record visitor growth. For the first time, visitor arrivals exceeded two million during a single month, with December 2025 recording more than two million international visitors. Strong tourist demand also supported the hospitality sector. By the end of 2025, Dubai had approximately 154,264 hotel rooms across 827 establishments, while average occupancy rose to 80.7 per cent, compared with 78.2 per cent a year earlier. The number of booked room nights reached 44.85 million, representing annual growth of 4 per cent. The 2026 edition of Arabian Travel Market highlights how technology is expected to reshape tourism over the next decade and a half, coinciding with regional investments in airports, aviation, hotels and tourism destinations. For Dubai, the event represents an opportunity to convert record tourism growth into new partnerships and investments while reinforcing its position as a global hub connecting tourism markets across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The exhibition also aligns with the objectives of Dubai's D33 economic agenda, which aims to double the size of the emirate's economy by 2033 and strengthen its position among the world's top three tourism destinations.