Manama: The fifth Arab Aviation and Media Summit (AAMS) concluded with speakers in broad agreement about the positive outlook for the Middle East’s aviation and tourism industry, despite the potential impact from a number of existing and emerging challenges.
More than 200 industry leaders, government officials and journalists attended the 2015 conference, which this year was held in Manama in partnership with the Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry and Bahrain Airport Company.
Other speakers and panellists included IATA regional vice-president Hussain Dabbas, Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO) secretary-general Abdelwahab Teffaha, Airbus Middle East managing director Fouad Attar, Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry acting under-secretary for civil aviation affairs Ahmed Al Nemah, Bahrain Airport Company chief executive Mohamed Al Binfalah, Economic Development Board executive director for tourism and leisure Jerad Bachar, Rotana chief executive and president Omer Kaddouri, South Asia CAPA chief executive Kapil Kaul, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority chief executive Haitham Mattar, Airbus director for strategic marketing and analysis Andrew Gordon and Amadeus Mena head of business development Mario Segovia Sman.
Among the themes emanating from the conference was the strategically important role that aviation and tourism continue to play in the ongoing development of Arab economies by creating employment, attracting visitors and helping to market cities and countries to overseas investors.
There was broad consensus among participants that aviation and tourism are set for a period of sustained growth in the Middle East, driven particularly by internal demand and the growing importance of the neighbouring regions of Africa and Asia.
However, some participants believe growth will be significantly higher if key issues such as infrastructure and regulatory constraints, environmental concerns, the slowdown in world trade, and the need to recruit tens of thousands of skilled professionals, are dealt with effectively.
This year’s edition of the event also featured ‘The Little Engineer’ workshop, an edutainment session that aims to instil a passion for science, technology and engineering among young nationals, supported by Airbus and Air Arabia.
The AAMS is industry-led initiative supported by organisations including Airbus Middle East, Air Arabia Group, CFM, Amadeus, Alpha Aviation and ITP Group, among others.
The event is held in a different Arab city each year with details of the next host city scheduled to be announced in mid-2016.
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