From the UAE’s first ever unified national tourism brand to an Etihad air-rail MoU and a 40-hotel Rotana pipeline, ATM 2026 finished as strongly as it started.
• The UAE launched Visit UAE its first ever unified federal national tourism identity at ATM 2026.
• The UAE Grand Tour platform offers multi-emirate itineraries of up to 14 days for visitors.
• Etihad Airways and Etihad Rail signed an MoU to create an integrated air-rail UAE experience.
• Rotana revealed a pipeline of 40 hotels and over 8,300 keys including 10 projects in Saudi Arabia.
ATM 2026 is done. Four days, more than 115 countries represented, over 55 destination stands, 57,869 confirmed meetings and a closing note of genuine confidence that felt earned rather than forced. The 33rd edition of Arabian Travel Market wrapped up at Dubai World Trade Centre on Thursday September 17, and Days 3 and 4 delivered some of the most significant announcements of the entire week. Here is everything that mattered across the final two days.
The UAE Gets Its First Unified National Tourism Brand
The single biggest announcement of the closing days was the launch of Visit UAE, the country’s first ever unified national tourism identity at the federal level. Unveiled at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s pavilion in the presence of UAE Cabinet Member and Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Visit UAE is designed to present the UAE as a single integrated destination, bringing all seven emirates under one identity for international audiences for the first time.
Alongside it came the UAE Grand Tour, a new online platform developed with Rocket International and all seven emirate tourism authorities, enabling visitors to explore the country through multi-emirate itineraries of up to 14 days. The platform includes booking capabilities built directly through travel sector partners, allowing tour operators and travel agents to assemble and sell multi-emirate packages to international markets. The launch also takes the World’s Coolest Winter campaign international for the first time, extending its reach beyond the UAE’s traditional domestic and Gulf audience.
The ambition behind both initiatives is clear: encourage international visitors to stay longer, see more and spend more across the country rather than treating Dubai as the entire UAE. It is a meaningful shift in how the UAE presents itself to the world.
Etihad Airways and Etihad Rail: A Historic Air-Rail MoU
One of the most forward-looking partnerships of ATM 2026 came from an entirely domestic collaboration. Etihad Airways and Etihad Rail signed an MoU to explore an integrated air-rail travel experience across the UAE, including measures aimed at simplifying onward journeys and strengthening connectivity through Abu Dhabi. The agreement signals genuine intent to build a seamless travel network that connects air and ground transport in a way the UAE has never formally pursued before.
Etihad also used ATM to launch Etihad Escapes, a new hotel-booking platform launching in October, and expanded its partnership with Swissport from 30 to 40 airports globally, covering ground handling and cargo operations across Africa, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.
Rotana’s 40-Hotel Pipeline
In hospitality, Rotana unveiled the next phase of its regional growth strategy, with 40 hotels and more than 8,300 keys under development across the region. Ten of the projects are located in Saudi Arabia, reflecting the Kingdom’s accelerating tourism infrastructure investment and the growing importance of the Saudi market to regional hospitality groups. The pipeline represents one of the most ambitious expansion announcements made by a regional hotel group at any ATM edition in recent years.
Day 4: The Asia-GCC Corridor Takes Centre Stage
The final day of ATM 2026 put the spotlight on one of the region’s biggest emerging opportunities: the Asia-GCC travel corridor. With Germany having reported 1.2 million overnight stays from GCC visitors in 2025, a 9% increase on 2022, and GCC travellers spending a combined three billion euros in Germany last year with per-trip expenditure more than 30% above the average overseas visitor, the outbound market from the Gulf is clearly in strong shape. The Asia direction represents the inbound counterpart: visitors from Japan, South Korea, India and Southeast Asia increasingly choosing UAE as a gateway destination, a trend that multiple sessions on the Global Stage addressed directly.
Jazeera Airways announced its first ever winter service between Kuwait and Prague, with twice-weekly flights beginning December 17 and operating until February 7, 2027, targeting festive travel and winter school holidays. And on the technology front, Mastercard and Trip.com showcased TripGenie, an AI-powered booking experience developed with Network International that gives travellers personalised itinerary and booking suggestions at a level of specificity that generic search cannot replicate.
How ATM 2026 Closed
A tangible sense of confidence and optimism ran through the event’s closing hours, with the 33rd edition reflecting an industry looking beyond immediate recovery and towards new opportunities. Buyers attended from more than 115 countries, with decision-makers from the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Turkey, Bahrain, South Africa, Qatar, the United States and China all present across the four days.
The next edition of Arabian Travel Market has already been confirmed: ATM 2027 will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from May 3 to 6. After a year that tested the global travel industry more seriously than most, the fact that ATM 2026 closed with this level of energy and this volume of announcements says a great deal about where the industry believes it is going next!
