Luxury travel startup wins

TDT| Dubai

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Club Escapade has been named winner of the 2025 ATM Start-Up Pitch Battle, hosted in partnership with Intelak, after presenting a disruptive model for on-demand luxury hotel bookings during the live competition on the ATM Future Stage.

The competition featured 40 regional start-ups, with finalists including ChatDMC, Penguinpass, SparkleHaze (Woohoo), TravStack, and WROXAI. Club Escapade’s pitch was delivered by founder and CEO Soufiane Alimi, who highlighted a members-only platform offering private, time-limited rates for unoccupied luxury hotel rooms, boosting revenue during off-peak periods.

“Club Escapade targets luxury hotels looking to optimise occupancy without compromising their brand prestige,” Alimi said. “Our weekly drop system, themed experiences, and last-minute model help hotels fill rooms with zero upfront cost.”

Judged by representatives from Intelak, Emirates, and Sabre, the competition was open to pre-seed and seedstage start-ups with innovative travel technologies. All shortlisted companies were given complimentary pod space in the new Start-Up and Innovation Zone at ATM 2025.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME for Arabian Travel Market, congratulated the winner, saying: “Club Escapade’s success reflects the dynamic shift in travel innovation. The calibre of entries this year has been outstanding.”

Presented by Sabre, the competition underlined ATM’s focus on entrepreneurship and connectivity. The 2025 edition of Arabian Travel Market concludes today after four days of industry discussions and networking across the business events, leisure, luxury, and corporate travel sectors.