Club escapade the 2025 winner of the ATM start-up Pitch Battle

Zawya

01-05-2025

The live competition took place today on ATM's Future Stage, where Club Escapade outlined its exclusive membership model and weekly drop system which creates demand-driven bookings, offering private, time-limited rates on unoccupied rooms
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Club Escapade has won the 2025 edition of the ATM Start-up Pitch Battle, which was held in association with Intelak, overcoming stiff competition from some of the region's leading travel innovators and disruptors.
This year's competition received entries from 40 travel start-ups, including finalists ChatDMC, Penguinpass, SparkleHaze (Woohoo), TravStack, and WROXAI.
During the Pitch Battle, Soufiane Alimi, Founder and CEO, outlined how Club Escapade helps hoteliers optimise occupancy during quieter periods while preserving their prestige and brand image. The company offers private, time-limited rates on unoccupied rooms to its Club Members, helping to boost hotel revenues while delivering the ultimate luxury on-demand vacation experience.
Alimi said: 'Club Escapade targets luxury hotels looking to optimise occupancy without compromising their brand prestige, as well as UAE residents and locals who crave premium, on-demand staycations but lack the time to travel. We leverage an exclusive membership model and a weekly drop system, creating excitement around luxury staycations. By curating themed experiences and offering private, time-limited rates, we drive consistent, high-value bookings for hoteliers. Our commission-based model and last-minute filling of the empty rooms ensures hotels generate revenue with zero upfront costs.'
The competition forms an integral part of ATM's commitment to entrepreneurship and connectivity, by inviting start-ups with innovative products, services, and technologies. The competition was open to pre-seed and seed series start-ups.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market said: 'Congratulations to Club Escapade, this year's Start-Up Pitch Battle winner. Their success reflects the dynamic shift we're witnessing across the travel and tourism sector, where fresh thinking and agile innovation are increasingly driving industry transformation. The Pitch Battle is more than just a competition – it's a launchpad for ideas that can reshape the future of travel. The calibre of entries this year has been outstanding, and we're excited to see what the next generation of travel pioneers brings to the stage.'
As part of ATM's commitment to entrepreneurship and connectivity, the competition, presented by Sabre, hosted start-ups with innovative products, services, and technologies. The competition was open to pre-seed or seed series start-ups, enabling them to access the resources to take their businesses to the next level.
Entries were reviewed by Intelak, a Dubai-based technology and innovation hub dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in the travel, tourism and aviation industries, and fellow judges Ismail Issa, Head of AI & Web3, Emirates, and Hassan Qannati, Head of Business Development, Sabre.
To further support entrepreneurial growth in travel, all shortlisted start-ups received complimentary pod space in the new Start-Up and Innovation Zone at ATM 2025, enabling them to showcase their solutions and network with industry leaders.
The largest edition of ATM to date will close today following four days of impactful industry discussions and unrivalled networking opportunities across the business events, leisure, luxury and corporate travel sectors.
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Now in its 32nd year, Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. Held annually at the Dubai World Trade Centre, ATM 2024 spanned 12 halls, making it the largest edition to date. With over 48,000 attendees and more than 35,000 visitors, including over 2,550 exhibitors and representatives from over 161 countries during last year's show, ATM remains a pivotal gathering for the global travel and tourism industry. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai
ATM takes place from 28 April to 1 May 2025, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai
Arabian Travel Week is a week-long festival of events from 28 April to 4 May, alongside Arabian Travel Market 2025. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East's travel and tourism sector, it includes the all-New Business Events @ATM focusing on MICE, Start-Up Competition, influencers' events, GBTA Business Travel Forums, and ATM Travel Tech. It also features ATM Buyer Networking and a series of country forums.
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RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
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About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week's digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
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