AI, innovation and emerging markets: What to expect from Arabian Travel Market 2025
As technology, emerging destinations and demand for luxury travel reshape the global tourism industry, all eyes turn to Dubai for the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025, the Middle East's leading travel and hospitality trade show.
Taking place from 28 April to 1 May at the Dubai World Trade Centre, 2,600 exhibitors are expected at this year's ATM, including tourism boards, airlines, hotels and tech providers from across the globe.
With ministers, executives and entrepreneurs also in attendance, ATM is a key moment in the industry's calendar for trendspotting, deal-making and planning.
It also offers a front-row seat to what's next for travel worldwide.
ATM offers a record-breaking platform for global tourism
Now in its 32nd edition, ATM has evolved into one of the most influential events in the industry.
Last year's 2024 edition set a new benchmark, welcoming over 46,000 attendees from more than 160 countries. The record-setting numbers reflected renewed global interest in
Middle Eastern destinations
, as well as a wider industry shift toward
technology
and transformation.
The 2025 event continues this momentum with a full schedule of panel talks, networking events and exhibitions spanning sectors from aviation and accommodation to
wellness
, hospitality and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions).
Innovation and entrepreneurship take centre stage
This year's theme, 'Global Travel: Developing Tomorrow's Tourism Through Enhanced Connectivity,' sets the tone for a programme focused on how the industry can adapt to changing expectations.
Artificial intelligence
will also take centre stage, with sessions exploring how AI is reshaping customer service, itinerary planning, flight scheduling and more.
Panellists such as Cassie Kozyrkov, Google's first chief decision scientist and a renowned AI expert, and Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, are lined up for sessions discussing technology in the age of disruption and
innovation
.
Related
Where tradition meets innovation: Saudi's Riyadh Air prepares for first flight
Can you enjoy Dubai on a budget? UAE city wants to dispel 'misconceptions' about cost of a holiday
Startups will play a prominent role, too. The ATM Start-Up Pitch Battle returns, offering early-stage companies a high-profile platform to pitch their ideas to investors.
Meanwhile, many brands are expected to showcase tools aimed at improving efficiency and personalising the travel experience – key trends in luxury travel, especially.
Luxury travel and regional ambitions shape the future of the industry
Outside of AI, expect
luxury travel
to dominate discussions.
The sector is surging, with estimates that it could reach €3 trillion by 2032, led by high-net-worth individuals from key markets in the Middle East and Asia.
As these travellers seek increasingly bespoke and
exclusive
experiences, exhibitors representing top-tier hospitality brands and destinations are responding with curated packages, high-end partnerships and locally rooted strategies.
ADVERTISEMENT
ATM will also explore how luxury tourism can align with sustainability and
community
inclusion, as well as the ways emerging destinations are benefiting from improved connectivity and the development of boutique and eco-minded experiences.
Related
From rising rents to rewilding: How tourists are rethinking their impact on the places they visit
The event is also a platform for policy. This year, leaders from across the Gulf are expected to convene to discuss issues ranging from visa reform to tourism investment and infrastructure.
As countries in the Gulf Coast region, including
Saudi Arabia
, the
UAE
and Qatar, expand their tourism ambitions, these discussions could help to shape a cohesive regional approach at a pivotal moment.
For those working in travel tech, hospitality, policy and more, ATM 2025 is shaping up to be a first look at tourism's future – and a showcase of the people and places preparing to lead it.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
How to keep your phone from overheating amid summer heatwaves
The summer holidays are here and many of us will be heading off on trips to hot and sunny destinations – and bringing our electronic devices along. But as Southern European countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece bake under the sun, don't forget that phones, tablets, and other electronics are vulnerable to extreme heat. Here's what device makers and experts say on keeping your electronics cool. What heat does to a phone Most electronic devices work best in a specific temperature range. Apple says iPhones and iPads are designed to be used in temperatures between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius. A device might change its behaviour to deal with extreme temperatures, Apple warns: 'Using an iOS or iPadOS device in very hot conditions can permanently shorten battery life'. Your phone might temporarily warm up if you're charging wirelessly, downloading big files, streaming high-quality video, or doing anything else that requires lots of power or data. Samsung says that's normal and it won't affect the performance or battery lifespan. What happens if the device gets too hot If your phone gets so hot that it becomes uncomfortable to hold, Samsung recommends that you stop using it. An overheating iPhone will alert users with a warning message that it needs to cool down before it can be used. Android devices will display a similar message, telling users that the screen will dim, apps will be closed, and charging will be paused. What not to do There are things you can do to protect your device from high heat. Don't leave it in a car on a hot day and don't leave it in direct sunlight for long. Apple also warns against using some features when it's very hot or in direct sunlight for long periods, like GPS navigation when driving, playing a graphics-heavy video game, or using the camera. Google, which makes Pixel Android phones, advises users not to use resource-intensive features or apps while charging. Keep your gear cool The best thing you can do in extreme heat is turn off your device completely. 'Even background processes can generate heat,' say experts at British electronics chain Curry's. 'A full shutdown helps it cool faster'. Remove the case, if your phone or tablet has one, because they can trap heat. Also keep it out of direct sunlight and put it somewhere cool, like an air-conditioned room or in front of a fan. But be careful about putting it in cool places. 'Never put your device in the fridge or freezer, as condensation can cause water damage,' according to Curry's.
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
Conservative-leaning Perplexity AI makes shock bid for Google Chrome
Perplexity AI, one of the leading AI platforms along with ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini, made an unsolicited bid to purchase the Chrome browser as Google faces charges in US courts of having a monopoly on online searches. In a letter to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company, Perplexity offered $34.5 billion (€29bn) in cash for Chrome, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters. The offer is particularly shocking because Perplexity is "only" worth $18 billion (€15.35bn). Perplexity's spokesperson confirmed the all-cash offer reported by the Wall Street Journal. Who are Perplexity AI? The AI platform delivers responses in conversational language it says is easy for the public to understand, setting itself apart from Google and Bing by skipping SEO-driven ranked link lists, and from ChatGPT or Gemini by using live searches instead of static snapshots of the internet. Earlier in August, Truth Social—the social media platform owned by US President Donald Trump—announced it was beta-testing integrating Perplexity AI into its search engine as Truth Search AI. While Perplexity maintains that it only provides the underlying technology for Truth Search AI and does not control "editorial" decisions, Truth Search has so far favoured conservative sources such as Fox News, The Epoch Times and The Federalist. While often framed as politically neutral, phrases like 'democratising knowledge'—which Perplexity have said they plan to do—have also been co-opted in some right-wing tech and media circles to suggest breaking perceived gatekeeper control and giving 'the people' unfettered access to information outside of mainstream institutions. Google faces anti-trust charges In one of the biggest anti-monopoly cases of the modern tech era, United States vs. Google LLC, a US district judge ruled in August 2024 that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly on search engines in violation with the Sherman Act. Namely, Google had used illegal means or those in opposition to open, free market practices to maintain dominance by spending billions of dollars per year to make itself the default search engine on Apple's Safari browsers and Android devices, making it impossible for competitors such as Bing or DuckDuckGo to reach users at any significant scale. This locked Google into a dominance loop that others were unable to break into. Being the default browser brought Google more users, which gave it more data to make its search and ads better, which would then encourage people to keep using Google—making it even harder for anyone else to catch up. After the August 2024 ruling, the case moved into a remedies phase where the US Justice Department proposed structural fixes—including forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser, end default search deals and share search data with rivals. In November of last year, Judge Amit Mehta rejected Google's attempt to dismiss some of the some of those proposals, which kept a potential Chrome divestiture on the table and set the stage for final remedy hearings in 2025—which is where the Perplexity offer came in. Perplexity's opposition to Google's dominance Perplexity's leadership has explicitly named Google as a rival. In an interview for TIME magazine in April of last year, CEO Aravind Srinivas said that Google was its "main competitor" and that Google's ad-based profit model prevents the integration of AI responses into search. Because Google's search business depends on showing ads alongside search results or links, replacing those results with quick, AI-generated answers—which is what Perplexity does—could undercut Google's revenue. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is an investor in Perplexity, and the company relies on Microsoft's Azure AI platform for its infrastructure. While Perplexity claims to have secured 'multiple unnamed funds' to support its all-cash bid for Chrome, there's so far no indication that either Bezos or Microsoft is directly financing the bid.
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
AI browsers share sensitive personal data, new study finds
Artificial intelligence (AI) web browser assistants track and share sensitive user data, including medical records and social security numbers, a new study has found. Researchers from the United Kingdom and Italy tested 10 of the most popular AI-powered browsers –including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, and Merlin AI, an extension for Google's Chrome browser – with public-facing tasks like online shopping, as well as on private websites such as a university health portal. They found evidence that all of the assistants, excluding Perplexity AI, showed signs that they collect this data and use it to profile users or personalise their AI services, potentially in violation of data privacy rules. 'These AI browser assistants operate with unprecedented access to users' online behaviour in areas of their online life that should remain private,' Anna Maria Mandalari, the study's senior author and an assistant professor at University College London, said in a news release. 'While they offer convenience, our findings show they often do so at the cost of user privacy … and sometimes in breach of privacy legislation or the company's own terms of service'. 'There's no way of knowing what's happening with your browser data' AI browsers are tools to 'enhance' searching on the web with features like summaries and search assistance, the report said. For the study, researchers accessed private portals and then asked the AI assistants questions such as 'what was the purpose of the current medical visit?' to see if the browser retained any data about that activity. During the public and private tasks, researchers decrypted traffic between the AI browsers, their servers, and other online trackers to see where the information was going in real time. Some of the tools, like Merlin and Sider's AI assistant, did not stop recording activity when users went into private spaces. That meant that several assistants 'transmitted full webpage content,' for example any content visible on the screen to their servers. In Merlin's case, it also captured users' online banking details, academic and health records, and a social security number entered on a US tax website. Other extensions, such as Sider and TinaMind, shared the prompts that users entered and any identifying information, including a computer's internet protocol (IP) address, with Google Analytics. This enabled 'potential cross-site tracking and ad targeting,' the study found. On the Google, Copilot, Monica, and Sider browsers, the ChatGPT assistant made assumptions about the age, gender, income, and interest of the user they interacted with. It used that information to personalise responses across several browsing sessions. In Copilot's case, it stored the complete chat history into the background of the browser, which indicated to researchers that 'these histories persist across browsing sessions'. Mandalari said the results show that 'there's no way of knowing what's happening with your browsing data once it has been gathered'. Browsers likely breach EU data protection rules, study says The study was conducted in the United States, and alleged that the AI assistants broke American privacy laws that deal with health information. The researchers said the browsers likely also breach European Union rules such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs how personal data is used or shared. The findings may come as a surprise to people who use AI-supported internet browsers – even if they are familiar with the fine print. In Merlin's privacy policy for the EU and UK, it says it collects data such as names, contact information, account credentials, transaction history, and payment information. Personal data is also collected from the prompts that users put into the system or any surveys that the platform sends out. That data is used to personalise the experience of people using the AI browser, send notifications, and provide user support, the company continued. It can also be used when responding to legal requests. Sider's privacy page says it collects the same data and uses it for the same purposes but added that it could be analysed to 'gain insights into user behaviour' and to conduct research into new features, products, or services. It says it may share personal information but does not sell it to third parties like Google, Cloudflare, or Microsoft. These providers help Sider operate its services and are 'contractually obligated to protect your personal information,' the policy continues. In ChatGPT's case, the OpenAI privacy policy says data from EU and UK users is housed on data servers outside of the region, but that the same rights are guaranteed.
