Category Archives: Technology

Mindsay and Sabre Corporation announced the official launch of a customer service automation solution for airlines, OTAs, and TMCs. As the only conversational AI technology to integrate seamlessly with Sabre, Mindsay’s intelligent virtual agents are fully connected with Sabre’s APIs, giving them the ability to automatically resolve a variety of requests, from simple FAQs to complex booking modifications. This unique integration allows travel companies to automatically resolve up to 70% of customer requests, significantly reducing call and live chat volumes. With bots handling the majority of common customer requests, travel agents can focus on solving the most urgent and complex requests. “We partnered with Mindsay because of its seamless integration with Sabre and ability to quickly deliver a chatbot to assist our travellers, who now get instant answers and avoid wait times. The aim is not only to increase efficiency but even more so to improve customer satisfaction by providing quick answers to their needs ,” said Pernille Vaupel, Director, Air and Online Sales at KILROY International. “Our unique integration with Sabre’s leading GDS allows airlines, OTAs, TMCs, and hotels to deliver better service at a fraction of the cost, by providing the perfect mix of self-service and human interaction,” said Guillaume Laporte CEO at Mindsay. “Sabre is committed to providing our OTA customers with the differentiated products they need to exceed their customers’ expectations, and this begins with our APIs,” said Madhavan Kasthuri, Managing Director EMEA Online Business at Sabre. “We are excited to partner with such a committed, forward-thinking partner who clearly understands the role technology plays in delivering a seamless experience that today’s travellers are increasingly expecting, especially when dealing with the online channel.” “The new chatbot …

According to the latest Sojern report; there will undoubtedly be a continued increase in demand for inbound travel over the coming weeks as more restrictions have been lifted in UAE, Saudi Arabia, & Egypt. The reopening of recreational activities, summer camps, spas and massage centres, indoor theme parks, and sports facilities; and with a wealth of activities available to locals, residents, and tourists, and the country now being branded as ‘open’ will facilitate more tourists in the coming months. Saudi Arabia has recently announced Hajj health measures for pilgrims (domestic only), and travel to Abu Dhabi is still restricted, with proof of a negative COVID-19 test required to enter the Emirate. That said, global flight bookings to key MEA markets remain down year-over-year. However, we are beginning to see steady growth for Saudi bookings, and improvement in travel confidence to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. Commercial flights are set to resume from Kuwait International Airport from 1st August. Over the coming weeks and months, this will likely have a considerable impact on intent and confidence to travel to the country, as well as on outbound travel. It is important to note that although searches are increasing for trips in August, they are still down 39% on searches made at the same time last year. Locals are taking advantage of hotel facilities, and turning their 2020 trips into staycations. Domestic searches have risen by 32 points when indexed to 12th April – a low point in search and booking levels to the region. Domestic bookings have also grown considerably since this period. Unsurprisingly, international searches for UAE hotels continue to decline, but bookings have risen above the levels experienced …

Cvent announced that it has trained and certified more than 20,000 marketers, event planners, and hospitality professionals (2,100+ in the APAC MEA) through its free training and certification program, helping them sharpen their skills, expand their industry expertise, enhance their resumes, and prepare for the future. The company is temporarily offering all of its Cvent Certifications and training programmes to anyone in the industry free of charge. Certifications typically have been offered only to Cvent customers, and it can cost up to Dh 6,600 for an individual to get certified and trained across the entire Cvent platform. Also included in the program are hundreds of free live, virtual training sessions and certification study groups, hosted by Cvent experts. “In early March, when the global pandemic really began to impact those in the meetings, events, and hospitality industries, we were looking for opportunities to not just give back, but provide support in a way that could facilitate an even stronger industry post-pandemic,” said Patrick Smith, CMO, Cvent. “In times like these, it’s critical that we all find ways to lift each other up, support our communities, and work towards a brighter future, and we’re committed to doing exactly that. Our goal is to train and certify tens of thousands of industry professionals, giving them the tools and skills they need to more quickly bounce back once things start to go back to normal – boosting not only their confidence and careers, but also the industry at-large.”

Sabre Corporation announces an enhanced partnership with one of India’s largest travel companies, Akbar Travels of India, cementing a valued two-decade long relationship between the two firms as Akbar forges ahead with plans for domestic and overseas growth. “Sabre and Akbar Travels have had a long, valued and productive relationship, and we’re excited to be again expanding our partnership by using Sabre’s Content Services for Lodging technologies to provide further choice and even better service for our travellers,” said K.V. Abdul Nazar, Chairman & Managing Director of Akbar Travels of India. “There are already clear signs of a pent-up demand for travel post Covid-19 and we needed technological solutions which provide us with the most intuitive way to shop and book for our travellers in order to provide truly personalised options for our clients.” Sabre’s Content Services for Lodging powers agency and corporate booking tools, integrating traditional GDS content from hoteliers, alongside content from the likes of Booking.com, Beds online and Expedia Partner Solutions. The Sabre-led Content Services for Lodging has been integrated into Akbar Travels’ operations through Sabre Red 360, allowing agents access to real-time, rich content on an intuitive graphical interface to make it easier for agents to comparison shop business and leisure options for travellers. “Sabre has a strong presence in India through our valued travel partners, our own office branches, and our large-scale technology base in Bengaluru,” said Traci Mercer, Senior Vice President, Global Lodging, Ground and Sea, Sabre. “Akbar needed robust, intuitive and scalable solutions to provide its branches with one easy-to-navigate, real-time and full-view lodging content solution and interface to ensure that it is able to create highly-personalised offers for clients as it looks …

Finnair and Sabre Corporation announced a new worldwide distribution partnership. Under the new agreement, Sabre will resume distributing competitive global Finnair content to hundreds of thousands of travel agents and thousands of corporations worldwide through its travel marketplace. Ole Orvér, Chief Commercial Officer, Finnair said, “We are delighted to promote our products and services through Sabre’s extraordinary network of travel agents worldwide as we rebuild our network and operations following the COVID-19 pandemic.” He added, “Travel agents continue to play a key role in the travel industry value chain and, together with Sabre, we will work to deliver the benefits of NDC technology. Ultimately, travel agents and their customers will enjoy more relevant and comprehensive travel solutions. As we ramp up our operations globally, it is imperative that customers have choice and flexibility in booking through their preferred direct or indirect channel. Travel agents contribute significantly to helping people regain the confidence to travel, which is absolutely essential for our industry.” “We are fortunate to enter this unprecedented period with new opportunities that will drive incremental revenue for both agencies and airlines”, said Wade Jones, President, Sabre Travel Network. “Consumers want the best offers, agencies want to present the most relevant content to their customers, and airlines want to distribute their fares and products so that travellers can access them wherever they choose to shop. Sabre remains committed to helping all parties achieve their goals. We are confident that our content serves the needs of travel agents in a truly optimal way.”

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) gave a global audience of over 2500 industry leaders and stakeholders insight into AlUla’s journey to become an international tourism destination with arts, culture and community at its heart, in a virtual conference. The panel, titled ‘Arts and Culture: Inspiring a future of tourism development in ancient landscapes,’ saw a team from RCU join former Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova; Jean-François Charnier, Scientific Director at AgenceFrançaise pour le Développementd’AlUla (AFALULA); Neville Wakefield, Creator and Artistic Director at Desert X; and Callum Lee of BOP Consulting. During the panel, Abdulrahman AlSuhaibani, Director of Museums and Exhibitions at RCU, who conducted research into AlUla’s ancient civilisations as part of his doctorate at the Sorbonne University in France, said, “The human presence in AlUla began more than 200,000 years ago and continues until our time. This has left a diversity and richness in the archaeological remains, and also in the community today. There is a huge story that we are going to share with the world, but the most important thing is how we can preserve and protect it.” Nora AlDabal, Arts and Culture Programming Director at RCU, said, “It’s really important to us to establish AlUla as a cultural hub for creativity and artistic exchange. We’ve developed multiple arts workshops, including with Desert X: We had the artists work not only on the exhibition itself but also within the community.” Neville Wakefield, Curator, Desert X supported this, saying, “Indeed, one of the joys of working in AlUla was making the community part of the artistic experience. We had so much involvement because everyone had a point of entry. Everyone has a sense of what the desert …

In a few hours, you can join in for the first webinar – ‘Tourism in Spain’ in a tri-series that will kick off at 11am UAE time today. To participate please contact Crisna de Guzman at crisna.deguzman@ddppl.com or call +971505074618, +971554704200. Educate and update yourself about a country with its rich heritage and history that can really add on to your bucket list. Today you can gather knowledge about the destination, the weather, what to do, the most interesting and popular spots etc.

Sharjah Holding PJSC, a strategic partnership between Majid Al Futtaim Properties and Sharjah Asset Management, has announced collaboration between the Al Zahia community and the Ministry of Health and Prevention to deploy autonomous vehicles in the community to support residents amid the coronavirus pandemic. Since its recent launch, the vehicles, known as AI Mobility Service Cars, have been traversing the community offering free sanitising products including face masks, gloves, and hand sanitiser to help preserve the health and safety of residents across Al Zahia. The initiative marks the first time autonomous vehicles have been deployed across a residential community in the UAE in support of resident wellbeing. Homeowners will hear the vehicle’s catchy song and slogan as the car navigates the community on a pre-programmed route. To access products, community members can stop the car simply by waving their hand as though hailing a taxi. The products will then be dispensed free of charge before the car continues on its route. Powered by technology companies Huawei and Neolix, the car incorporates an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) ‘brain’ to travel the neighbourhood safely. In addition to being familiar with the Al Zahia community through HD mapping, the vehicle also intelligently analyses its surroundings using a combination of cameras and sensors to detect people, animals, and other cars within range. A digital screen also features on the vehicle’s front to share messages with the community. Shadi Al Azzeh, Projects Head at Majid Al Futtaim – Al Zahia, said, “From the very beginning we’ve served our residents by being human-centric in everything we do, and the arrival of this autonomous, contact-less vehicle to the streets of Al Zahia is the perfect example of …

Spain tourism will be presenting a series of webinars to be conducted on May 20, June 10 and June 17, 2020. This will be an ideal opportunity to learn about the destination, its most known and unknown areas, what to do when in Spain, discover new itineraries, its weather, its culture; the series includes a whole new awareness of one of the most sought after European destinations in the world. The main goal of these sessions will be to create an inspiring, emphatic and informative content in an interactive environment to communicate with tomorrow’s travellers. Daniel Rosado Bayon – Tourism Counsellor shared, “We will have three separate sessions; in each of them we will go through the basics about the country before discovering with detail different destinations, from most known areas to a whole new part of Spain. In the first one, on May 20, we will go through our two main destinations: Madrid and Barcelona. In the second one, we will immerse in Andalucia and the Islands. The final one on June 17 we will share about some of the lesser known areas of the destination. We invite you to attend these sessions so that you will be well aware of the destination and discover new facts and places in the Country.”

Sojern launched a new interactive dashboard providing real-time COVID-19 travel insights. These insights will empower Sojern’s customers, partners and industry leaders to forecast travel demand and make informed decisions about market recovery. Sojern will be providing free and unlimited access to the public via the their website, a service the firm has only ever provided to customers and partners.The dashboard, updated daily at 10:30 pm UTC, will provide market-level details on future searching and booking trends indexed to pre-COVID levels to provide visibility into timing for a recovery in specific destinations. Amber Kuo, Director of Travel Insights, Sojern, said, “In COVID times, travel marketers are feeling stressed and uncertain about the future. Providing daily updates gives marketers more control because they can see how the situation is evolving, and when is the right time to act.” George Kalliamvakos, Digital Media Manager, Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said, “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sojern has played an instrumental role in providing insights and data to our organisation that helped us monitor demand and build predictable forecast models and action plans.” “These are extremely challenging times for hotels, the support that Sojern is giving with its big data analysis is priceless. Knowing what the consumer is looking into, helps us shape the investment on sales and marketing activities,” said Rachele Belladelli, Sales & Marketing Consultant for Hotel Rosa Alpina, Tyrol, Albereta, Castel Hortenberg and Paragon 700, Unique Retreats. “Sojern’s analyses of the public’s flight intentions are very interesting because they support us with our revenue forecast during and post-COVID, and therefore for media planning. Never has this been more important, because it has to do with the …