News December 30, 2024

ES Sport (formely Expat Sport) at Arabian Travel Market 2024

ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) have been busy as ever spreading the UAE sports tourism message in 2024. In this case, it was at the 31st edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) from Monday, 6^th of May to Thursday, 9^th of May 2024 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), in a prominent booth on the ‘Experience Abu Dhabi’ stand. Where, among other initiatives, we created our specially produced highlight video for on-screen & social media. Click here to check the ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) ATM Highlight Video_ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) out.

Firstly, we should say a huge thank you to all our new social media and website followers, plus mailing list additions who joined us during what proved to be an incredible event and of course a special thank you to the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) & Arabian Travel Market (ATM) teams, who worked tirelessly to make the event such a success for ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport), as well as all the other exhibitors.

ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport): Multiple Objectives and Offerings in Sports Tourism

ATM is the perfect event to showcase our sports tourism experience and continue to cement ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport)’s position as an authority in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) sports tourism sector and grow our brand visibility. Enabling us to feature some of the top sports people and entities we have worked with, being appointed as an exclusive agent for the FIFA World Cup, and testimonials from our top clients, demonstrably supportive of our leadership positioning.

ATM also proved to be the ideal platform for our team to communicate ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport)’s exciting plans to bring new sporting events to Abu Dhabi in support of the Government’s sports tourism 2031 strategy. We were delighted to have a position alongside the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) and informed them of our plans to open a new office in Abu Dhabi, with the support of our Chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Saif Al Nahyan.

At the same time, ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) team was diligently promoting sales of Abu Dhabi’s UFC, F1 and NBA sports programmes to GCC and global tour operators, Dubai Destination Management companies (DMCs), along with Dubai and GCC travel agents and corporates.

The ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) team was also able to meet with New York-based DMCs and tour operators during ATM and agree their rights to sell our T20 cricket ticket packages, while partnering with them to supply hotel accommodation.

In addition, we succeeded in generating many new contacts for sponsorships from Tourist Boards & relevant entities throughout the ATM event.

Growing our brand visibility both online and offline was a key overall objective. To this end, ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport)’s measured outreach to corporates through digital marketing activity far exceeded initial targets. We were visibly elated with the results from our: Generic eblast, E-brochure with QR code to our UFC, F1, NBA, T20 packages and social media posts on Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn.

The ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) ATM Team

Alan Holt – Managing Director: DCT relationship, networking & key client meetings.

Chantal Asaad – Marketing Manager: Event & marketing management including content creation and digital marketing plus networking with DCT / Abu Dhabi based clients and corporates (via social media).

Nasir Ahmed – Head of Cricket: New York DMCs/tour operators for T20.

Scott Walker – Abu Dhabi Sales Manager: Networking with Abu Dhabi entities and connecting with GCC / other relevant Tourist Boards and organisations for sponsorship.

Jennifer Rebeiro & Rukma Fernando – Product & Sales Managers: UFC, F1 and MBA to GCC and global tour operators, Dubai DMCs, Dubai and GCC travel agents.

Lucy Monks – Administrative Assistant: Staffing the stand & encouraging sign-ups for the competition.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways

Attending Arabian Travel Market was an enriching experience for the ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) team. We ended our time at the event: inspired to deliver even greater levels of premium service on behalf of our clients and partners, far better connected, and genuinely excited about the future.

We were also delighted to be able to secure a meeting with HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, head of Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi and ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) MD – Alan Holt, from the stand. The DCT daily onsite briefing was incredibly positive. We received many enquiries for UFC events in Abu Dhabi and the F1 promotion on our screen attracted a lot of attention.

The ATM LinkedIn contest proved to be highly effective, resulting in a pleasing increase in engagement and attracted many new followers. Outcomes that demonstrated the successful impact of the initiative in terms of boosting ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport)’s online presence and audience interaction. Moving forward, we feel confident to build on the initial momentum generated by adopting similar initiatives to further enhance our levels of engagement and reach.

Our energetic networking endeavours during the exhibition were rewarded with a substantial number of C-Suite level meetings secured.

ATM as a forum provided an outstanding opportunity to connect with US & other international operators.

The rapid response time – within the same week – from connections made at the event was excellent.

The ES Sport (formerly Expat Sport) team thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the close-knit teamwork involved in making ATM work for our business and we are already looking forward to next year’s event and the new opportunities it will bring.