Homegrown hotel brands from the Middle East region  such as Dubai’s Jumeirah Group, Emaar and Rotana will have significant presence at this year's Arabian Travel Market (ATM), said its organisers.

A premier travel and tourism event, ATM is being organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions from May 5 to 8 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

As the number of hotels in the region continues to grow unabated, the international hotel management companies such as Hilton, IHC, Starwood, Hyatt, Accor and Marriott now operate over 174 four and five-star properties between them, 22 per cent of the 802 total regional hotel stock.

However an emerging trend that is gathering momentum, is the creation of standalone local brands, providing owners with an added or alternative competitive edge.

"Some of the more established homegrown hotel brands from the Middle East are not only on the rise throughout the region, but are also expanding into other western markets with Dubai’s Jumeirah Group leading the way," remarked Mark Walsh, the portfolio director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.

"Exhibiting at ATM is a popular choice for independent local brands, they can showcase their brand attributes directly to industry stakeholders as well as identifying opportunities to export their brand into new locations and markets," he added

Besides Jumeirah, the list of confirmed home-grown brands includes established independent hospitality brands such as Rotana, Hospitality Management Holdings, Address, TI’ME and JA, which compete comfortably with even the biggest international management brands as well as some relative newcomers.

Jumeirah Group, which opened its first hotel in Dubai in 1997, is moving ahead with global expansion plans with its latest signing in St Petersburg Russia. The company currently operates a total of 22 luxury hotels and serviced apartments, including 11 in the Gulf region, with a further 15 hotels under development worldwide.

Emaar Hospitality Group, a subsidiary of Emaar properties, launched The Address Hotels + Resorts in 2008 and currently has five award-winning properties in Dubai.

Rotana Hotels opened its first hotel in 1993. The Abu Dhabi-headquartered company currently operates 85 four and five-star hotel and hotel apartment properties in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe with extensive expansion plans.

UAE-headquartered hospitality company, TI’ME Hotels Management, has recently opened the TI’ME Pearl Residence in Abu Dhabi, with a second property under construction, as well as Dubai, Doha, Luxor and Ajman, taking its total number of properties to eleven.

Commenting on its participation, Mohamed Awadalla, the CEO of TI’ME Hotels, said: “TI’ME is the official host hotel for GCC hosted buyers for ATM 2014. The GCC is an important market for us and our hotel and hotel apartments product mix is ideally suited to GCC travelers, whether for corporate visitors or family leisure breaks.”

Founded in 1981, JA Resorts & Hotels, includes the all-suite five-star JA Palm Tree Court and four-star JA Jebel Ali Beach Hotel within the JA Jebel Ali Golf Resort, plus two properties in Dubai Marina and a management contract for the Enchanted Island Resort in the Seychelles.

Hospitality Management Holdings, has a portfolio of 20 four and five-star hotels located in Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the UAE, recently opening their first property in Muscat, Oman.

To cope with the extra demand, ATM has reserved additional exhibition space for 2014, now covering five of the world trade centre’s biggest halls, plus the entire Sheikh Saeed halls, increasing the size of the show to 23,500 sq m, a 5.8 per cent increase over last year.

“At this year’s show, we have a spotlight on luxury throughout the region’s travel and tourism sector, contributing towards an 11 per cent increase in demand from Middle East exhibitors, Europe up by 7 per cent and travel technology and hotels have risen by 8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service