24 DMCs from Satguru at ATM

JVR Fernando, Chief Commercial Officer, Satguru Travel, shares that at this year’s Arabian Travel Market they will be participating with 24 DMCs, as the COVID intensity goes down and travel restrictions ease.

Shehara Rizly

Satguru Travel has been participating at the Arabian Travel Market with its own stand over the past years. As the travel restrictions have eased out, they are able to get onboard 24 DMCs this year, which will provide an opportunity to meet and network with all the visitors at the show. J V R Fernando, Chief Commercial Officer, Satguru Travel shared, “The world opening up after the pandemic is witnessing a huge surge in leisure traffic. Therefore, we are particularly looking for some mutually beneficial partnerships and opportunities in Tourism.”

Arabian Travel Market now in its 29th year has been the great connector between the north and the south, east and the west, bringing together visitors across the globe on one platform where they can network, meet and speak business face to face. Fernando further reiterated the importance of the travel trade exhibition. “ATM as an event connects the travel world. As we are based in Dubai, it is bringing more opportunities to us for inbound and outbound travel,” he said. This year Ramadan came early and summer follows Arabian Travel Market, hence it is a period when leisure travel surge especially from the Middle East, where they look at exploring different destinations every year. When asked about the trends that can be seen, Fernando retorted, “by looking at the trend, people are opting for short breaks rather than long trips. Currently, the most trending destinations are Georgia, Baku, Turkey, Maldives & Zanzibar.”

The ease of restrictions and opening of borders was most positive in terms of travel impact as people are now looking at travelling more than before due to the pent up demand. “Leisure traffic picked up big time. Business travel is not much compared to pre-pandemic, but it will boom in a short span of time,” he said.

Expo 2020 Dubai played a pivotal role in attracting MICE travel towards Dubai and the UAE. Now that Expo is over, there are still some pavilions that remained in the UAE to ensure that their presence continues. With the ease of restrictions for MICE events, destination weddings will be another important segment that has emerged. “We are in discussion with many companies that are planning MICE  travel. Many groups are also coming up, especially wedding groups as per our sales point of view,” he said.

End of this year brings in yet another first to the region as for the first time the football World Cup comes to the Middle East region and Doha Qatar plays host destination. This is a significant event, which will no doubt see traffic flowing in to the region. “Discussions are ongoing to represent FIFA in many African countries where we are already active. We are also expecting huge traffic from the far-east and other African countries. Our local presence in Qatar is an additional benefit to fulfill the needs, especially in terms of services,” he  said.

The DMC locations are: Egypt, India, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar, France, UK, Brazil, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, Morocco, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia & Ukraine.