Creative design and
people skills among the five categories in the popular award programme, back
for a third year running; panel of top industry and design personalities set to
reprise their judging roles; all exhibitors eligible to participate
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.
For more information on Arabian Travel Market
2017, please go to: www.arabiantravelmarket.com
Photo caption: The Address
Hotels + Resorts won the award for Best Stand Design at Arabian Travel Market
2016.
