Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has taken part in the Outbound Travel Roadshow (OTR) Middle East edition for the second consecutive year.
Organised by Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibition, OTR provides international destinations a platform to collectively market their countries and travel destinations to travel trade in an amalgam. OTR is well-known for its excellent execution and industry leadership, and has a wealth of experience in all the segments of travel and tourism. Held across the most prominent feeder cities, OTR attracts all the vanguards of travel trade industry. OTR attendees include key decision makers and budget holders with direct purchasing responsibility.
Taking place from February 10-13, the 2019 OTR Middle East edition features four leading markets of Middle East – UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman collectively constitute about 60 per cent of all outbound travel and about 75 per cent of total international tourism expenditure from the Middle East region.
The Middle East Outbound travel market has witnessed a remarkable rise during the past years. It has more than quadrupled from 8.2 million in 1990 to 36.2 million today. It was in fact world’s fastest growing market with over nine per cent increase in outbound travel in 2015.
A WTO forecasts projects 35 million tourists from the Middle East travelling to overseas destinations by 2020. It is hence becoming one of the most lucrative markets in the tourism industry. Substantial increase in the development of the economy and trade across the Middle East, along with increases in population has brought an increase in leisure and business tourism. A major trend seen in outbound tourists from the Middle East is the shift towards unique experiences like culture, history or nature.
In addition to the Middle East roadshow, MATATO is also gearing up for the Riyadh Travel fair, to be held from March 28-30 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This will be the fourth year that MATATO is hosting a destination stand at the largest travel trade event in the gulf state.