Category Archives: Technology

Sabre Corporation announced a renewed technology agreement with Etihad. Under the new agreement, Etihad will continue leveraging a suite of Sabre’s industry-leading IT solutions to aid recovery, help drive post-pandemic growth and enhance the passenger experience. “As we focus on our recovery, it is imperative that we have the right technology in place” said Frank Meyer, Chief Digital Officer, Etihad Aviation Group.  “Our strong relationship with Sabre and this renewed agreement means that we can continue to optimize our day-to-day operations.” Etihad and Sabre have a successful and long-standing relationship, with the carrier already having seen tangible benefits from a suite of Sabre’s network planning and scheduling, pricing and revenue management and cargo technology.  Under the new multi-year agreement, the following products will be among an important suite of technology for Etihad as it focuses on optimizing its operations to fuel its recovery: Fares Optimizer – Uses near real-time responses to provide dynamic price recommendations for Etihad’s fares. The solution will be crucial in helping Etihad improve its revenue. Network Planning and Optimization – this industry-leading planning and scheduling suite is able to scale to the largest airlines in the world. Powering more than 60% of the world’s top airlines, Sabre’s Schedule Manager will continue to help Etihad build and deliver robust, accurate and operationally feasible schedules across its network. Inflight – In previous years of using Sabre’s Inflight solutions, Etihad has been able to achieve significant savings, while continuing to provide a world-class and award-winning guest experience onboard. “Our renewed technology agreement with Etihad is testament to the airline’s confidence in Sabre to deliver the advanced solutions needed to help secure its recovery, and help it to power future growth,” said …

Sabre Corporation announced the successful migration of GOL Linhas Aéreas, Brazil’s largest domestic airline, from their legacy reservation system onto the SabreSonic passenger service system (PSS). The well-executed cutover now enables the airline to expand GOL’s global reach, offer exceptional personalized passenger experiences, and propel its growth plans. With the recent migration, Sabre’s highly-scalable technology will collectively manage the large number of passengers that travel on GOL each year. The two companies will continue to work closely to expand the airline’s operations and evolve its retailing, distribution and fulfillment capabilities. “At GOL we have taken significant steps to ensure the company is well-positioned for growth in the post-pandemic cycle. Innovation and technology are key components of our strategic growth plans,” said Eduardo Bernardes Neto, Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Clients at GOL. “We are confident that the flexible and intelligent nature of Sabre solutions, including the PSS, will enable us to be more efficient and offer a modern retail experience that enables personalized travel at scale to better serve our customers.” Headquartered in São Paulo, GOL began operations in 2001 and has quickly grown to become one of largest airlines in South America, carrying more than 36 million passengers per year to over 100 destinations in Brazil, South America, the Caribbean and the United States. “We are proud to become GOL’s trusted travel technology partner as it embarks upon the next phase of its journey,” said Dave Shirk, President of Travel Solutions at Sabre. “We are excited to have successfully completed GOL’s migration to SabreSonic and see that Sabre’s differentiated set of solutions delivers value to the airline.” Sabre’s robust PSS has already allowed Sabre’s valued partners to realize increased …

The Lufthansa Group airlines and Travelport announced a new distribution agreement that enables modern airline retailing as well as technology innovation. Under the agreement, which covers the carriers Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS and Air Dolomiti, Travelport will distribute Lufthansa Group airlines’ NDC content through the next-generation content distribution and travel retailing platform, Travelport+. This agreement builds on the ongoing distribution of Lufthansa Group airlines’ content through traditional EDIFACT channels. Both companies are already in the process of implementing end-to-end NDC functionality. The launch, expected in the first half of 2022, also lays the foundation for a diversified NDC program giving Travelport-connected travel agencies the ability to access Lufthansa Group airlines’ content through Travelport+ by signing up to one of the two available commercial NDC models, the NDC Public model or NDC Bilateral model. “Lufthansa Group is firmly committed to delivering superior customer experiences along the entire travel journey, increasing reach of our most attractive offers and enabling a diverse travel ecosystem. Especially in these times of crisis and when creating additional customer value through advanced technology proves to be more important than ever, we are doubling down on our long-term NDC strategy”, says Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Senior Vice President Channel Management at Lufthansa Group Network Airlines and Chief Commercial Officer SWISS. “This future-oriented agreement allows a maximum level of flexibility, and confirms that Travelport and Lufthansa Group airlines are teaming up to drive change in our industry towards true retailing capabilities and implementing customer-centric processes that together elevate the customer experience to new levels.” Jason Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer, Travel Partners at Travelport, says: “Expanding our longstanding partnership with Lufthansa Group airlines to include NDC content, with the …

Sojern have partnered to provide hoteliers with powerful multichannel media solutions aimed to drive direct bookings. The partnership empowers hoteliers to reach their customers across multichannel media solutions, increasing direct sales and profitability. With Sojern, Roiback enhances its own digital marketing agency specialised in hospitality, providing its clients a smart advertising platform built specifically for travel marketers. Sojern and Roiback will focus efforts on the Middle East and Asia Pacific, Iberia and Latin America regions. “As travel emerges from global lockdowns and cross-border restrictions, we couldn’t be happier to launch another impactful partnership with a market leader in the direct booking space. We look forward to delivering best-in-class strategies and products for our shared customers,” said Josh Beckwith, senior director of strategic accounts and partnerships, Sojern. Roiback is a global powerhouse in travel technology. For five consecutive years has won the World Travel Awards as ‘Europe’s Best Hotel Reservation Solution Provider’ and is nominated for the “World’s Best Hotel Booking Solutions Provider” at the upcoming 2021 World Travel Tech Awards. “Hospitality marketing is a challenging space, with ever-increasing channels and solutions. At Roiback we have a Digital Marketing agency specialised in hospitality, and with this partnership we look to further enhance it. Our hotel clients will benefit from access to simple and effective solutions to empower their digital marketing strategies, as well as to improve their direct channel performance,” said Felipe Bravo, Head of Roiback Digital.

Wego records exponential growth in the flight searches from Saudi Arabia to the UAE following Saudi’s announcement on welcoming travelers from the Emirate again. Saudi Arabia has been handling the pandemic very well and is rolling out its vaccination drive across the country. Travelers are feeling more reassured where airports are reinstating the confidence in travel. With stringent precautionary measures followed and safety measures that meet the high standards, we will see a quicker recovery for the tourism sector. Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said: “The region was eagerly awaiting this announcement. Saudi Arabia is one of the most preferred destinations for MENA travelers. Through our platform, we saw a 1,700% increase in flight searches from Saudi Arabia to the UAE in the last two days. We expect to see more growth in flight searches and bookings in the coming days.” Around 50% of travelers are looking to travel within a week from the announcement and 60% of the people are searching for a short stay around 3 days. Solos are dominating the type of travelers searching for flights with 80%, followed by families and couples. Dean Wicks, Chief Flights Officer, Wego, said: “Flight searches from the UAE to Saudi Arabia have jumped by 1000% just days after the announcement. Saudi Arabia continues to be one of the favorite destinations for UAE travellers. The massive spike in searches between the two countries shows how much pent up demand there is for travel within the region.” Wego brings the best offerings to its users to help them get the best rates and deals from over hundreds of hotels and flights.

Sabre Corporation and Qatar Airways are now finalizing a new distribution deal that will provide long-term access to the airline’s content through the Sabre travel marketplace. Qatar Airways intends to strengthen its partnership with Sabre to take advantage of Sabre’s global reach and leading position in corporate travel for the distribution of Qatar Airways’ products to travelers worldwide. Implementation work is starting to enable unique NDC offers created by Qatar Airways to be distributed through Sabre’s new distribution capability (NDC), which provides a consistent end-to-end workflow that integrates within well-established agency operations. “A new approach to retailing is required in order to respond to the personalized service and enhanced flexibility that travelers expect,” said Roshan Mendis, Chief Commercial Officer, Sabre Travel Solutions. “Sabre is committed to supporting Qatar Airways in enhancing its retailing capabilities by enabling the airline to distribute personalized offers through our marketplace to corporations and travel agencies around the world.  Collaboration will be crucial in travel’s recovery, so I’m proud that we are now finalizing a long-term, sustainable agreement with Qatar Airways that is beneficial for all parties in the travel ecosystem.” Sabre’s technology enables Qatar Airways to effectively market and sell its expansive roster of fares globally through the Sabre marketplace. Reaching a network of more than 425,000 travel agents, it is one of the world’s largest marketplaces, processing over US $120 billion in estimated travel spend. Thierry Antinori, Chief Commercial Officer, Qatar Airways, said: “Working collaboratively is pivotal to our reputation as a trusted and reliable business partner for both customers flying Qatar Airways, and the travel agencies that serve them. As international travel recovers, the landscape has become extremely complex, and we don’t want …

Adyen the global payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, today announced the launch of its integration with Shiji Payments, providing hospitality businesses the ability to utilize the Adyen platform together with Shiji, a leader in the provision of technological solutions for the hospitality, food service, retail, and entertainment industries. This new integration simplifies the payment process for hospitality businesses by removing the need for a list of platforms and suppliers which usually includes separate processes for property management systems, food and beverage point of sale, and guest experience platforms not to mention the different payments service providers for each. “Our partnership with Adyen allows us to further improve the operational efficiency of our customers by providing a platform that guarantees a truly seamless and personalized experience for their hotel guests,” said Michael Balzer, VP Shiji Payments, Shiji. With only two companies, Adyen and Shiji, hotels can consolidate all of these front-end business systems and payment needs, including having the same point of sale setups across regions and easier reconciliation across all channels. This, in the end, provides the best possible customer service. These integrated features power the seamless journey that customers expect nowadays. Commenting on the partnership, Sander Maertens, Head of Middle East at Adyen, said: “Adyen is excited to partner with Shiji Payments. This is a long term strategic collaboration for us in the region. With Shiji’s leadership in hospitality sector, covering over 91,000 hotels and 200,000 restaurants, and a strong footprint in the Middle East, we aim to leverage this partnership to implement new digital innovations in the payment space. The hospitality sector will benefit from our combined, seamless payment integrations with specialist …

Aleph Hospitality has announced the launch of its hotel Innovation Lab to help drive innovation in the travel, tourism and hospitality as the industry recovers post pandemic. The company is on the lookout for dynamic and innovative startups that are transforming the travel, tourism & hospitality sector, and that seek support on their journey from a dynamic, experienced, and entrepreneurial team of senior industry professionals. “At Aleph Hospitality we operate with an entrepreneurial spirit in everything we do, and we pride ourselves on our culture of innovation. As a team we have been looking at ways to help drive innovation in travel, tourism and hospitality, in a time our industry needs it the most”, said Bani Haddad, Founder and Managing Director of Aleph Hospitality. “Through the Innovation Lab we want to support and promote entrepreneurs that are changing the face of our industry and offer them a springboard to launch and grow their business by providing office space, business support and advisory, product testing facilities and investment opportunities.” Aleph Hospitality is looking to onboard the first start-ups in its Innovation Lab in the company’s headquarters in Dubai by the end of September 2021.UAE based start-ups – and international entrepreneurs willing to relocate to Dubai – with innovative products, solutions and/or technologies in the fields of Artificial intelligence (AI), hotel guest & employee guest experience, sustainability & renewable energy, food & beverage and/or community service(s) are encouraged to apply for the Innovation Lab. Candidates can register their interest on the Aleph Hospitality website and the submission deadline is 2 September 2021. Shortlisted start-ups will be invited for a face-to-face meeting at the Aleph Hospitality offices in Dubai in September, with the …

Worldwide leader in travel retail, Travelport, announced a multi-year technology agreement with ITL World, one of the leading travel management companies in the Middle East. The agreement will see Dubai-based ITL World implement Travelport+, Travelport’s recently launched next-generation platform that creates a simplified, capability-rich, marketplace for travel retailing.   The move to Travelport+ will see ITL World benefit from advanced retailing capabilities including a modern, lightweight, highly functional microservices API, as well as a sophisticated point of sale solution and tools for enhanced value generation – all in one place. Travelport and ITL World also intend to implement various NDC initiatives in the future, leveraging Travelport’s NDC connections with multiple airlines.   Additionally, ITL World will use Travelport’s Branded Fares and Ancillary Services, giving its agents a graphically rich experience when searching and booking fares and ancillary offers from the approximately 275 airlines using the solution.   “Deploying Travelport+ supports our commitment to deliver travel management solutions which are innovative, yet cost-effective”, said Dr Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman & Managing Director at ITL World. “Travelport+ will enable us to simplify complex travel retailing processes, respond with agility to the needs of all our customers, and create increased value.”   Kathryn Wallington, Head of Middle East & Africa at Travelport said: “We are proud to be partnering with a market leading travel management company like ITL World. We will continue to work closely with ITL World to enhance capabilities, improve pain points and ensure we are generating value from every trip. ITL World’s upgrade to Travelport+ will also enhance its competitive edge as the industry approaches a full return to travel.”   Founded in the 1980s, ITL World is an award-winning travel …

Accor, a world-leading augmented hospitality group, with more than 400 hotels and resorts across India, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, is introducing a bespoke 1 year Sales & Distribution learning program for Saudi Talents across Accor properties in the Kingdom. With over 30 years of presence in the Kingdom, the group is continuously finding new ways to contribute and comply with the Kingdom’s Saudisation vision of 2030. Accor is building strong partnerships with educational institutions, local authorities and NGOs, recruiting Saudi role models to support new recruits and working with the government to provide placements for university students. Learning & Development opportunities are crucial to attracting, recruiting and retaining Saudi talent, with a focus on accelerating career development, Accor has rolled out several initiatives exclusive to the hospitality group, including the Saudi Management Training Programme (SMTP), the first initiative of its kind in the Kingdom, launched in 2014. Fairmont Riyadh –  In June 2021, the Sales & Distribution learning program began for 150 Saudi nationals, “Heartists”, across the Kingdom with the objective of building a new sales generation in compliance with local regulations. Participants of this immersive program benefit from the opportunity to acquire and build competencies in sales knowledge and skills, interaction and learning from peers and subject matter experts, and can participate in the program from any business function. The program will be taking place virtually and participants will be enrolled through Accor’s digital platform, INES. Over the four months before being certified, each participant will have to attend 3 sessions and only successful participants will be part of the second phase of the Sales Up-Skilling program starting in October 2021. Sofitel Al Khobar – “Learning and Development …