Category Archives: Agents

Dubai Airports is introducing a comprehensive new programme to ensure the delivery of a sector leading, inclusive, and seamless travel experience for all People of Determination (POD) with hidden disabilities that travel through Dubai International (DXB). As part of Dubai Airport’s shared values ‘We all meet the world differently’, this new initiative will contribute to the UAE Vision 2021 and Dubai Plan 2021 vision for Dubai to be the world’s leading disability-friendly city and barrier-free community that empowers and welcomes all POD travellers. This new programme will roll out in two phases over two years and unite service partners across the DXB community to elevate the travel experience for passengers with hidden disabilities such as autism, chronic fatigue, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). In an effort to integrate recognisable and accessible options for POD travellers, Dubai Airports will be introducing a travel planner for pre- travel preparation and an Autism Friendly Route, with a prioritised route through check-in, passport control, security check point and boarding, which can be availed when wearing the sunflower lanyard. Specially trained staff equipped to support POD travellers will be easily identifiable wearing sunflower pins, allowing for increased visibility, communication and support throughout the airport journey. A comprehensive educational campaign to drive awareness around autism, specifically relating to socially acceptable language and empathy will be undertaken as part of the programme, complemented by the distribution of key training materials across all airport entities, ensuring that POD travellers are met with consistent support and a positive customer experience.  Dubai Airports has been accredited by the Dubai Autism Centre as an Autism friendly environment. The second phase of the roll-out will see additional, innovative solutions, including connected airports, …

Arabian Adventures, a leading UAE-based destination management company, tour and safari operator, is expanding its camp accommodation and service offering to further improve its popular ‘Overnight Safari’ experience. Also known as the brand’s ‘Luxury Desert Camping’, the popular experience in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) offers permanent tented accommodation with wooden decking amidst a natural green enclave, with a communal dining area, gazebo and bonfire set-up for gatherings at the centre. Now open for the winter 2022/23 season, new accommodation options are located at a nearby viewpoint higher on the dunes. From here, guests can access from their deck panoramic, uninterrupted desert views for the ultimate Arabian sunrise and sunset, and an additional element of privacy amongst the tranquil surroundings. Food and beverage options as part of the all-inclusive desert camping experience are also expanding for the new season. New menu items have been added to the line-up prepared for guests by the in-house culinary team, including unlimited soft drinks and premium beverages at a private bar, alongside a BBQ dinner and breakfast on the grill. Mohanad Malhas, General Manager at Arabian Adventures, commented: “An Overnight Safari in the Dubai desert offers a back-to-nature experience like no other. In the pristine surroundings of the protected DDCR, our guests can get up close to local wildlife and be assured that everything will be taken care of by our team of destination experts. We are witnessing increased demand for our full range of UAE experiences this winter, and a stay in the desert remains high on the wish list of residents and visitors alike.” Arabian Adventures’ camp now has a total of eight deluxe tents. Each accommodation can be booked by …

Sabre Corporation  celebrated the opening of a new office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last week in the presence of representatives from travel companies and partners.  “We are excited to continue delivering our investment plan in Saudi Arabia and celebrate the opening of the second new office in the Kingdom this year,” said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, vice president, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. “This reflects our commitment and continuous efforts to expand our operations and team to support the increasing needs of our customers in the Kingdom. We have invested in building a knowledgeable and diverse team to give our customers the support they require.” “We believe our efforts in the Kingdom are aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy. We provide the technology and infrastructure to equip travel companies with the tools and solutions they need to help maximise their potential, provide exceptional customer experience and attract travellers from all around the world,” added Iyer.

Sabre Corporation and Conferma Pay announced a new partnership with Mastercard to accelerate the use of virtual cards for business-to-business (B2B) travel payments. The announcement builds on Sabre’s August 2022 acquisition of Conferma Pay.  The collaboration with Mastercard is the next step in advancing Sabre’s goal to create an open and independent travel payment ecosystem. Digitization of travel payments with virtual cards helps address the historic challenges associated with B2B leisure and corporate travel payments.  The securely generated, single use card numbers provide a link between booking and associated payments to third party suppliers.  Travel buyers and suppliers are therefore able to easily track and reconcile payments, as well as benefit from flexible pricing, financing options, and enhanced security through card payment guarantees. “The payments industry is in the midst of a revolution and there is an increased need for travel companies to better manage the whole payment experience,” said Roshan Mendis, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Sabre Travel Solutions.  “Companies in the travel space – including travel management companies, travel agencies, corporations, issuers and technology partners – need sophisticated solutions and seamless connections.  Sabre is taking strategic steps to fulfill the needs of our industry, beginning with the acquisition of Conferma Pay.  Now, the new partnership with Mastercard will help Conferma Pay to build new and enhanced digital capabilities in virtual cards, transforming the payment experience for issuers.” As part of the agreement, Mastercard has agreed to make a minority investment in Conferma Pay, which will continue to operate independently and serve the entire travel industry and beyond. “A combination of experience, technologies and capabilities will accelerate travel payment innovation and drive inclusive and sustainable growth for …

The Emirates is one of the most easily accessible countries in the world, and every year hundreds and thousands of UAE residents undertake international journeys. While we may all be fans of last-minute, impromptu bookings it might not always seem feasible. But we can make it possible for you. Want to catch a quick break and sneak away for a vacation? Here are the 7 countries that are easily accessible from the UAE, where all you will need is a flight ticket and minimal pre-travel preparations. Oman UAE’s neighbour is one to reckon with when it comes to selecting a country for your international trip. It surely surpasses the expectations of every visitor with its grand mosques, spectacular mountain views, vibrant souks and white-sand beaches. Due to their proximity, non-stop flights are easily available to and from Oman, operated by Emirates, Etihad, Oman Air, Air Arabia and more. The flight duration is just one hour, while connecting flights could take longer. Roundtrip tickets from the UAE to Oman are readily available starting from AED 797. In a historic agreement, both countries have signed a deal to establish a rail network between Oman and the UAE, which will further facilitate travel. The passenger trains are expected to reach 200 kph, running between Sohar and Abu Dhabi in 100 minutes, and between Sohar and Al Ain in 47 minutes. Saudi Arabia Another country sharing land borders with the Emirates is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is frequently visited by millions every year for what Saudi has to offer for every type of traveler all year round. Multiple direct flights are available every day, starting from airfares as low as AED 1,300. …

Vienna Tourist Board showcased how its coffeehouse culture contributes to the city’s quality of life at the ‘Sip of Vienna’ barista masterclass hosted in collaboration with Julius Meinl in Dubai. The Masterclass experience included a tasting session and a discussion about the process of selecting and roasting green coffee beans as part of the learning experience. The highly trained baristas at Julius Meinl demonstrated how to prepare the “Wiener Melange”, a typical Viennese coffee speciality and showcased how to grind the beans, measure, and brew coffee using a variety of different methods. With around 2,200 coffeehouses in Vienna, ranging from elegant traditional cafés to simple bistros with standing room, from spacious café-restaurants to cosy café-patisseries, the Viennese coffeehouse culture inspires artists and guests. As a result of Vienna’s coffeehouse culture fulfilling an invaluable social function, UNESCO added it to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2011. Throughout Vienna, people meet in coffeehouses to philosophize, relax, meditate, read the newspaper, gossip, flirt, play billiards and chess, and talk with friends and strangers. Matthias Schwindl, Media Relations Manager Middle East at Vienna Tourist Board, said: “The Viennese coffee house is known around the globe for its informal pleasantness, as an oasis of gemütlichkeit. Gugelhupf, Sachertorte, and many other tarts and cakes seduce with the promise of sweet pleasure. Vienna embraces international coffee trends like different flavour profiles and new and old preparation methods, from cold brew to drip filter, while incorporating sustainability, natural purity, fair trade, and direct trade.” During the event, Vienna Tourist Board also showcased the reasons why Vienna has the highest quality of life in the world. Schwindl added: “Viennese coffeehouse culture plays a significant role in enhancing the …

dnata announced its partnership with American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), the world’s leading B2B travel platform. The agreement sees Dubai-based dnata Travel Management, the region’s leading corporate travel provider, become Amex GBT’s preferred travel partner in the Middle East. dnata will provide full end-to-end travel and meetings management services to Amex GBT’s customers in the region. Rashid Al Awadhi, Senior Vice President – dnata Travel Group, Middle East & India, commented:  “We look forward to working with Amex GBT and its clients as the region sees strong growth in corporate travel, fuelled by mega-projects and companies that are seeking to expand. Our team’s extensive regional experience goes back to dnata’s GSA and travel agency roots in 1959. Through the years, dnata has continued to build its expertise and network to earn its position as the largest travel management company in the UAE, and one of the largest and most successful in the Middle East. With our broad expertise and 24-hour support function, we will work hard to ensure Amex GBT customers enjoy a quality experience throughout their journey.” Jason Geall, Amex GBT Senior Vice President & General Manager for the EMEA region, said: “We believe our current and future customers will benefit from best-in-class services with dnata as our preferred travel partner. dnata has a proven reputation for trust and transparency that supports Amex GBT’s commitment to service, governance and compliance.” A dnata Travel Group brand, dnata Travel Management is built on a client-focused approach, where people, technology solutions, processes, and procedures revolve around corporate travellers’ needs. The dnata Travel Group represents the travel division of dnata, a leading global air and travel services provider. Amex GBT works …

At the recently concluded Switzerland tourism roadshow where they hosted over 100 trade partners recently as the final of their GCC roadshow with 18 key partners that showcased their offerings from tourism boards, hotels, Railways, cablecars, airline and DMCs, it was shared that they had achieved 20% more in terms of visitors than pre pandemic or 2019. Matthias Albrecht, Director Switzerland tourism stated, “This is the last roadshow for the year. Roadshows are very important as we meet people directly in their own home ground. As we all know there are many possibilities to book online and its important to speak to people on digital channels but we all know the big families, VIPs don’t want to stay online for many hours and compare they want the travel agents to organise, add additional rooms or connecting doors, especially in this region this will stay, these contacts are able to arrange everything for them, we are here to meet these contacts.” Speaking on the year that was, “it was a fantastic year, we had a great start, there was a survey conducted early 2022, it was asking many UAE residents and nationals about their favourite travel destination and Switzerland became third after Dubai and Abu Dhabi which are both within UAE which means Switzerland the most prominent and most popular destination outside the UAE which is a fantastic result and of course helped us a lot to advertise Switzerland throughout the year.” This summer proved to be good for most destinations, Albrecht shared, “there is one figure which we received from September comparing now to 2019, pre pandemic and we are 20 percent plus from the whole of GCC which is …

Elaf Travel and Tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Sabre Corporation cemented a long-standing relationship,  signing an exclusive agreement to drive the agency’s growth through advanced technology.  The agreement was signed at a ceremony attended by management and executives from both companies to celebrate a decade of successful collaboration. The agreement provides Elaf Travel and Tourism continued access to Sabre’s portfolio of innovative technology across the region, including its industry-leading workflow Sabre Red 360 and the latest mobile, data analytics, personalization and automation capabilities. “We are excited to confirm our relationship with Sabre, which will continue support our growth and technology plans,” said Dr. Adel Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Elaf Group. “We are working together to deploy the latest solutions and capabilities, transform our business, and advance our offerings to enrich our customers’ experiences – particularly online.” Using SR360, the agency will have access to Sabre’s marketplace of more than 420 airlines, 750,000 hotel properties, and hundreds of tour operators, rail, car and cruise providers, enabling it to sell personalized travel packages from suppliers all around the world. “We are happy the Elaf Travel and Tourism recognizes the value of our technology and trusts the dedication and expertise of our local team,” said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, vice president, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. “Elaf Travel and Tourism has a wide range of services catering to the online, offline, and corporate travel sectors and we are committed to deliver products and solutions that meet their diverse customer needs and help the company to scale and expand its business to meet the high expectations of the tech-savvy Saudi travelers.”  

Amadeus signed technology partnership agreement with Safe Travel & Services, one of leading travel agencies in UAE. The travel company provides comprehensive range of services for individual travelers, corporate clients, and groups from and to the UAE, including customized packages and visa services. Under the agreement, Safe Travel & Services and its customers will benefit from various Amadeus products and solutions. These include Amadeus Online Suite, an omni -channel e-commerce solution to expand online presence and deliver a wealth of quality tailored content; Business Management Platform, incorporating various solutions such as robotic ticketing tools and sales data management systems to support pricing, analysis, and ticketing automation through a single platform. Also included in portfolio is Amadeus All Fares Plus, which helps agents find best air deals by comparing multiple content sources, including NDC-enabled content, and Amadeus B2B Wallet to offer payment options. Ernesto Sanchez Beaumont, Managing Director, Amadeus Gulf, said: “With travel gaining momentum as more countries open their doors to travelers, we are committed to supporting Safe Travel & Services in rapidly finding the best air deals for its customers and providing a seamless end-to-end travel payments solution offering greater choice, reach, and orchestration.” Raed Baidas, General Manager of Safe Travel & Services, said: “To address challenges of the modern tourism industry, we know that planning, developing, and adapting to evolving needs of the market is key to our success. Adopting Amadeus’ latest technology solutions will help us realise our ambitions and position us strategically as we strengthen our customer relationships and take our value-offering to the next level.” As the travel ecosystem evolves, the industry is ready to upgrade and enhance systems and processes and have in place …