Dubai trade fair Arabian Travel Market postponed due to coronavirus

The organisers of Arabian Travel Market announced on Monday that it had decided to postpone the region’s largest travel fair that was originally scheduled to take place in Dubai from April 19-22, 2020 due to the global coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak.

The annual event is now scheduled to take place from June 28-July 1, 2020 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Read: GCC coronavirus update: Total cases reach 200

The UAE recorded 15 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infected individuals in the country to 45, the Ministry of Health and Prevention announced on Friday.

In a statement, the organisers Reed Travel Exhibitions, said: “Due to the escalation of the Covid-19 epidemic around the world, after consultation with all our stakeholders, the venue management, supporting associations, and in alignment with the advice from the UAE public health authorities regarding travel to and from impacted countries, we have taken the decision to postpone our event.

“The announcement has been made at the earliest opportunity to give as much notice as possible to all stakeholders enabling them to make the necessary arrangements to reschedule their plans.”

Read: Saudi Arabia bans travel to UAE, eight other countries

The decision to cancel the fair came on the same day that Saudi Arabia announced that it was suspending all travel to and from the kingdom from nine countries, including the UAE, effective immediately.

Arabian Travel Market is the latest in a series of high-profile shows that have been postponed in the UAE.

Read: Dubai International Boat Show postponed

On March 2, the Dubai World Trade Centre took the extraordinary step of postponing the Dubai International Boat Show that was scheduled to be held this month from March 10-14.

Read: Dubai Lynx postponed amidst coronavirus concerns

The same day, the annual Dubai Lynx media and advertising event also confirmed that its event had been postponed until September over concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

Read: Art Dubai postponed due to coronavirus

The following day, on March 3, Art Dubai announced that its 2020 edition, slated to be held later this month, will also be postponed.

Read: Coronavirus: Ai Everything and Careers UAE postponed

Soon after, trade fairs Ai Everything said that its event has been postponed indefinitely, while Careers UAE will take place in October this year.

Read: Dubai Expo 2020 ‘closely monitoring’ coronavirus situation

Dubai Expo 2020 meanwhile has said that it is ‘closely monitoring’ the coronavirus situation.