Arabian Travel Market, the leading global event for Tourism and Travel is back with AladdinB2B

Event Type: Hybrid
Location: DWTC, 9-12 MAY 2022
Industry: Travel, Tourism
Organizer: Reed Exhibitions

There is no bigger global event for travel industries than the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in the Middle East. The annual event has allowed investors, businesses and organizations to connect with different destinations around the world using their unique experiences for the last 28 years.

The ATM theme revolved around the future of international Travel & Tourism through innovation. The event was presented in a hybrid model to allow people who were unable to travel to still experience the show. At the same time, this model enabled our on premises attendees to build in person relationships.

This year, a B2B Matchmaking Program was offered by the AladdinB2B team to assist exhibiting startups in setting up high level meetings with investors. Furthermore, the ATM Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition gave the startups a chance to pitch their business idea on the big stage and compete for the opportunity to win a signicant cash prize investment.

The Challenge: Launching our 5th Startup Competition at ATM while organizing a successful matchmaking & meetings program

We needed to make this ATM Edition a memorable one, since this was the first time in 29 years that ATM hosted a startup competition. Launching our 5th DASC (Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition) with 15 participants was not going to be easy. At the same time we had to conduct a successful matchmaking & meeting program.

We were asked to provide two specific duties at the Arabian Travel Market. The first was where we were asked to use our matchmaking technology to connect startups with investors. Innovation and Technology played a major part in the overall success of the event.

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Confirmed investors
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Startups part of the VIP meetings program
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Startup meetings conducted

Furthermore, now that the DASC has been going on for over a year, it is gradually becoming a staple of trade events. With more businesses and startups being aware of what the competition is about and what it offers to them, there has been a significant increase in startups wanting to participate.

This influx of new entries requires more time to prepare, as the AladdinB2B team needs to reach out to each startup to verify their entries , process their participation and so on. The gradual increase in preparation time and effort has gradually extended from a routine task to a significant challenge.

Danielle Curtis,

ME Exhibition Director at Arabian Travel Market
“The ATM Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition is a fantastic initiative, which we believe will act as a springboard for innovative travel and tourism companies that are working to reshape our industry for the better.”
The solution

During the course of the three day event, over 100 meetings were conducted for the 15 startups as part of the VIP matchmaking program. The AladdinB2B matchmaking application was used by investors and startups to request meetings at the event. Our ground team at the ATM ensured those meetings occurred and went smoothly.

Furthermore the 5th Draper- Aladdin competition was held successfully with 15 startups battling on stage to win the grand prize. The judges made use of our in-house scoring app to vote and rate the startups in real time.

The winner of this DASC edition was ‘Welcome to the world’, which mission is to inspire people to explore and travel by directly supporting the businesses that welcome travelers to their destination, while avoiding the high commissions charged by the online travel agencies

Stefanie Schachtschabel,

Founder and CEO at Welcome to the world
“I would recommend all startups, all over the world to apply for Aladdin because it’s going to bring you opportunities that you never had before”