Category Archives: Technology

ITL World signed a new agreement with Sabre Corporation according to which Sabre will enable the TMC to continue fuelling its global expansion strategy. The TMC will also benefit from the new version of the Sabre Red Workspace, which was designed to help agents offer a greater experience and more personalisation to travellers. “We chose Sabre as its innovative technology has proven to better support our objectives, which include delivering the highest level of service to our customers,” said Dr. Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman and Managing Director, Eram Group/ITL World. “Sabre’s understanding of the latest technology trends and traveller behaviours has been essential in our expansion in the Middle East. It has helped us to truly understand the needs of the Middle Eastern traveller, enabling us to deliver an unrivalled service to our large customer base. Sabre’s new platform will help us to meet the growing demands of our travellers globally, who demand and expect increasingly personalised itineraries and a seamless travel experience.” With 39 fully-owned/operated offices across Asia, Middle East & Europe, ITL World, a member of the Eram Group already enjoys a successful relationship with Sabre, will continue to access Sabre’s broad portfolio of technology solutions, including the latest mobile, data analytics, personalisation and automation capabilities. Sabre plays a critical role in enabling ITL World to increase productivity and achieve its growth objectives. Its new Sabre Red workspace was developed to meet the changing needs and expectations of travellers – a modern technology platform built around its core GDS infrastructure that provides a greater choice of services to customers. Sabre has also integrated its Dev Studio APIs – which provide market data, fare trend information, travel seasonality and alternative …

The first edition of the Travel Tech ME Congress concluded at Marriot Al Jaddaf in Dubai, UAE. The event gathered 100 technology experts, travel agents, airline operators and airport officials to provide a forum of exchange on the current technologies in tourism. Organised by Verve Management, the two-day congress started with Diego Lofeudo, Director of Business Unit, Corporate, Yas Marina Circuit, UAE who made the official welcome address. Conference Chairman, Albert Fernando, COO, Travelwings opened day two of Travel Tech ME Congress, where he said, “A great initiative for Verve Management, that has helped tourism stakeholders better understand and share future trends in travel technology. The industry looks forward to the congress next year, bringing in even more experts in travel technology.”Several presentations over two days shed light on the latest innovations happening across the world in terms of travel and tourism. Albert Dias, Co-founder & CTO, Musafir discussed the importance of sub-second search speed and its effect on a travelers’ decision-making process.Juan Iván Martín, Head of Innovation, FDS, from IATA discussed travel blockchain, the introduction of the IATA coin as payment methods and how hackathons such as the IATA-NDC Hackathon-2016 in Dubai have helped the airline industry as well as the hotel and travel industries by introducing innovative ideas, and applications that have been implemented and increased revenue in the travel and tourism industry in the region. From blockchain, IATA coins being implemented, disruption, the importance of sub-second search speed, web technologies challenging today’s relevance and the future existence of mobile apps. The two-day conference was concluded with a panel discussion of the lessons learned and the way forward, on the evolution in the hotel distribution system.

Travel management company, ITL World signed a new agreement with technology provider Sabre Corporation.  Under the new agreement, Sabre will enable the TMC to continue fuelling its global expansion strategy. With 39 fully owned/operated offices across Asia, Middle East & Europe, ITL World, a member of the Eram Group already enjoys a successful relationship with Sabre, will continue to access Sabre’s broad portfolio of technology solutions, including the latest mobile, data analytics, personalisation and automation capabilities.  The TMC will also benefit from the new version of the Sabre Red Workspace, which was designed to help agents offer a greater experience and more personalisation to travellers. “We chose Sabre as its innovative technology has proven to better support our objectives, which include delivering the highest level of service to our customers,” said Dr. Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman and Managing Director, Eram Group/ITL World. “Sabre’s understanding of the latest technology trends and traveller behaviours has been essential in our expansion in the Middle East. It has helped us to truly understand the needs of the Middle Eastern traveller, enabling us to deliver an unrivalled service to our large customer base. Sabre’s new platform will help us to meet the growing demands of our travellers globally, who demand and expect increasingly personalised itineraries and a seamless travel experience.” “ITL World has proven its position as a global player in a very short time,” said Ramzi Al Qassab, Commercial Director for GCC and global partners. “This agreement highlights the confidence ITL World has in Sabre’s expertise and technology to support its objectives and meet its diverse customer needs.”

Uber, in partnership with Dubai Taxi Corporation launched UberONE. Around 50 brand new premium electric cars will be added to the Uber app, giving riders across Dubai the chance to request the fully-electric, smart and sustainable transport option at the touch of a button. Starting from October 10, riders will be able to choose from a dedicated fleet of electric vehicles exclusively via the ‘UberONE’ option on the Uber app. The joint initiative comes as part of Dubai Taxi Corporation and Uber’s commitment to helping Dubai become the smartest city in the world in support of the Green Economy for Sustainable Development Initiative. Chris Free, General Manager for Uber, UAE said, “At Uber we are constantly innovating our offering and looking for ways to provide new and progressive experiences at the push of a button. We are tremendously excited to be the exclusive ride-hailing partner for the clean vehicle technology to deliver our driver-partners and riders with more efficient, less-polluting mobility. We will continue to work hand in hand with Dubai Taxi Corporation to bring innovative infrastructural solutions to Dubai and grow the city’s smart mobility ecosystem.”

Travelport hosted a two-day conference to provide insight into emerging new trends in the market and future of the sector with AI technology at Shangri-La, Oman. Over 230 customers from 14 countries attended the event. Kathryn Wallington, Country Manager, UAE Travelport welcomed the guests and explained the interactive opportunities at the conference. In his opening remarks, Matthew Powell, Managing Director, Middle East and South Asia, Travelport explained that Travelport had transformed from a regular GDS to a travel commerce and distribution platform to enable more opportunities in their portfolio. He reiterated how their platform enabled travel providers and their evolving technologies to deliver relevant content for travel buyers and consumers. He also spoke of how the platform provided new tools and solutions to customers and created a frictionless path to work with speed and accuracy, automated operations and the latest B2B travel payments. He reiterated that there was an expected opportunity of $8.6 billion in mobile travel sales in Middle East and India by 2022.

At the Top, Burj Khalifa gets a digital facelift with a series of innovative technology experiences. As the guests set to start the Burj Khalifa journey, the ambience changes; white gradient glass walls provide an illusion of clouds, highlighting the heights they will scale soon and give a first glimpse of a 4-metre illuminated model of Burj Khalifa. Here, a giant video wall creates a ‘movement art’ of all visitors. Sensors gather the presence of every visitor, his location and turn them into real-time digital art. The replica of Burj Khalifa comes to life with digital projections in four different themes. The view of the Burj Khalifa model is hidden from the central reception area by ‘magic glass’ – a technological application enabling visitors on the outside to get just a glimpse of the model. Ahmad Al Falasi, Executive Director – Group Operations at Emaar Properties, said, “We have leveraged the latest advancements in digital technology to ensure that every visit, every time, by anyone will assure them delightful surprises. The spacious, aesthetic and digitally enhanced reception will significantly add to the convenience of our visitors from across the world.”

InterGlobe Air Transport (IGAT), through its parent company – The Navigator Tourism and Travel LLC, has been appointed as the exclusive representation partner in the UAE for Sonhando, a Portuguese Destination Management Company (DMC) with effect from October 1, 2017.  The Navigator shall be responsible for developing and promoting outbound tourism to Portugal from the UAE through B2B, B2C and B2E channels. Sonhando, a part of the renowned Pestana Group, is a leading DMC and offers comprehensive tourism options – both packages and customised tailor-made itineraries across Portugal.  The company specializes in multiple theme based holiday options such as family, honeymoon, golf vacations, adventure tourism and beach specials to name a few. InterGlobe Air Transport, is a leading airline management company headquartered in India and assists world’s leading airlines and tourism/leisure companies in setting up of operations and successful execution. The Navigator Tourism and Travel LLC, is its group company in the UAE and specializes in airline, tourism & destination promotion. Navneet Jaggi, Vice-President Middle East, InterGlobe Air Transport, said, “We believe that destinations aren’t about geography, they’re about psychology, they’re about a feeling. The well-travelled clients from this region yearn for newer destinations and ‘wow’ experiences and we feel that Portugal as a destination has all the ingredients of being the next big outbound leisure and MICE destination from UAE.  In Sonhando, we believe, we have just the right partner to help us deliver the same level of customer service that InterGlobe has always been known for. We’re extremely excited about this partnership.” José Manuel Antunes, Director General of Sonhando said- “Together with Pestana Group and Euro Atlantic Airways as a part of our group, we have, over the …

India-based online travel marketplace, Ezeego1.ae entered the Middle East market with an aim to expand its global footprint in the B2B travel space. Their newly-established office in Dubai Internet City will be the headquarters and global base for strengthening its presence across the markets in Africa and the Middle East. Neelu Singh, CEO and Director, Ezaago1, said, “We started off our B2B arm in 2009 and have been in the forefront concentrating on different offerings in the market. We have already mapped the requirements of the Middle East market and have confidence that we can cater to all those conditions, necessities and constraints. Dubai will be the headquarters catering to the Middle East and Africa region as we see a very good growth potential. We believe that our global reach and technological know-how combined well with the local expertise of the travel providers can address the growing demand of inbound and outbound travel in the region. Extension of our rich B2B presence to this region will support the need of the growing client base of travel partners by providing solutions in the area of marketing, inventory management and dynamic pricing to achieve sustainable profit margins.” Ezeego1 will enable and distribute comprehensive content of hotels, holidays, acticites, cruises, cars amd travel insurance through its B2B online travel portal agent.ezeego1.ae. Travel agents, tour operators, retail and wholesale agents and destination management companies partnering with Ezeego1 can access millions of travel products on the online booking tool, avail flexible payment and settlement options, multi-currency support, customised technology and 24×7 customer support across geographies to be able to provide their customers the best travel experience.

Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier, has extended its partnership with Amadeus, one of the leading providers of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry, choosing to bolster its services by employing state-of-the-art innovations at the heart of its business operations. The extended partnership comes as Middle East Airlines aims to increase its commercial agility while gaining competitive advantages through new merchandising practices such as dynamic pricing, fare families and ancillary sales. MEA will adopt a suite of tools which optimise merchandising opportunities and which enable more personalised experiences for its customers. MEA already migrated to Amadeus’s advanced revenue management technology in November 2016. Adib Charif, Head of IT, Middle East Airlines, said: “After having enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Amadeus for several years now, we are very happy to extend our collaboration. Amadeus solutions enable us to operate efficiently, by delivering products and services that are beneficial to our customers while also keeping our operations running smoothly. The customer focus and team dedication give us great peace of mind; with Amadeus, we know our operations are in good hands.” The extension of Middle East Airlines’ contract with Amadeus will see the latter deliver a range of technology solutions. Amadeus Payment Platform will enable the activation of payment in new channels, which can allow direct collection and easy payment for ancillary services, such as excess baggage charges. The solution promises to improve productivity and enhances the user experience by managing operations from a single graphical user interface. In addition, Middle East Airlines will be adopting Amadeus Reservation Desktop web, which automates functionalities for call centre agents and enables merchandising functionalities. This will allow the airline to drastically reduce the …

Musafir.com launched its new Arabic mobile app, enabling travellers to manage their travel plans on the go and in real time. The app will be available on iOS and android platforms. It offers a range of features allowing customers to personalise their travel experience including a sub-second search on flights, express checkouts without having to fill in credit card details repeatedly, e-visa application services, holiday and hotel bookings, as well as  advanced search filters such as destinations with halal food offerings. According to a recent report by PwC titled ‘Global Megatrends and their impact on the Middle East’s travel and tourism industry’, smartphone penetration across the GCC is among the highest in the world, reaching 78 per cent in the UAE and 77 per cent in Saudi Arabia. Albert Dias, Chief Technology Officer, Musafir.com, says, “At Musafir.com, innovation is at the heart of what we do as a business and what our customers have come to expect from us. And, with the region steadily advancing towards the digitisation of the travel and tourism industry, we must ensure that our products respond to evolving customer demands. The new Arabic mobile app will give our customers more control over the travel booking process, allowing them to manage and complete their trips anytime and anywhere.”