Industry leaders gathered in Dubai today as Arabian Travel Market 2026 launched its Future Stage, kicking off four days of discussions on how artificial intelligence is moving far beyond chatbots and personalised recommendations to reshape the infrastructure underpinning global travel.
Rachel Travers, President of the UK Hub at RX Global, opened proceedings within the Tech and Innovation Hub, part of the newly launched ATM Travel Tech show. She welcomed attendees to a programme exploring the technologies and ideas transforming the industry.
The first keynote came from Dr Marwan Alzarouni, CEO of AI at the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, who argued that traditional search rankings can no longer guarantee visibility. As travellers increasingly rely on AI platforms for inspiration and research, he said destinations must ensure their information is accurate, timely and easily interpreted by these systems. Gaps in visibility, he noted, should be treated as content and discoverability problems rather than purely technical ones.
Dr Alzarouni also called for closer integration across the travel ecosystem, warning that AI cannot deliver its full value when used in isolation. Real progress, he said, depends on destinations, airlines, hotels and government bodies aligning their systems and strategies together.
Danielle Curtis, Regional Portfolio Director for the UAE at RX Global, echoed this shift, noting that the industry conversation has moved from individual AI applications toward how the technology reshapes the infrastructure supporting travel as a whole, raising questions around governance, data and collaboration.
Other opening day sessions examined hospitality trends, the return of Chinese outbound tourism, and the evolving relationship between automation and professional expertise.
More than 180 exhibitors from 30 countries are taking part in ATM Travel Tech, supporting the wider ATM 2026 theme of driving innovation across the next era of global tourism.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
