Category Archives: Agents

Recognising and applauding the tourism tigers of the Middle East, DDP presented the first-ever Arabian Travel Awards on July 4, 2017, at the JW Marriott Hotel Dubai in Deira. Over 150 notable personalities of the Middle East travel and tourism sector were present to honour and acknowledge the achievements of their brightest gems. Dr Tanushree Pandey, Gladrags Mrs India, along with SanJeet, Mentor, Arabian Travel Awards, and Sumeera Bahl, Director, Durga Das Publications, handed out the awards to the winners. Due recognition was given to each sector in the industry through 48 categories of awards. Welcoming the guests, SanJeet, said, “With Arabian Travel Awards, we aim at identifying and encouraging talent of all kinds in the tourism sector. Owing to these stars, the graph of the Middle East tourism industry has touched remarkable heights. It is our pleasure to honour them for their achievements. This initiative will help encourage more talent to develop and take this vibrant industry to a much higher level.”

Celebrating the hard work of the key stalwarts in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries in the Middle East, Durga Das Publications today presents the maiden Arabian Travel Awards at JW Marriott Hotel Dubai in Deira. There will be four types of awards: Personal Awards, Business Awards, Trending Awards and Partner Awards. The sub-categories will include awards for Best Business Hotel, Best Family Friendly Hotel, Best City Hotel, Best Green Hotel, Best Leisure Hotel, Best Destination Management Company, Best Hotel Apartments, Best B2B Travel Portal, Best Luxury Hotel and the likes. The Arabian Travel Awards are following a systematic method of internet-based voting. These awards are supported by Tourism Breaking News Middle East, TravelTV.news, TravTalk Middle East and TravTalk India who are premier media partners for extensive coverage.

Cleartrip has officially launched a website in Arabic to support its GCC market expansion efforts and provide users in the region with localized browsing and booking capability. The new website includes content and promotions relevant for Arabic-speaking audiences and comes with a host of useful features, tools and functionalities designed to allow travellers to more easily make and manage reservations. There are also exciting offers and benefits displayed on the website which the users can make use of when booking online through Cleartrip. Cleartrip’s website experienced a 30% increase in traffic from mobile devices during the first week of Ramadan, and the launch of a dedicated website in Arabic is expected to further accelerate bookings. Innovations in payment security, along with the launch of new government initiatives in the UAE and the proliferation of e-commerce startups, have increased consumer trust in online payments. This, in turn, is expanding the market opportunity for Cleartrip.

In line with its strategy to enhance consumer experience, Wall Street Exchange has launched a reloadable multi-currency Visa prepaid card, powered by Najm, the financial arm of Majid Al Futtaim. This enables customers to lock in a favourable currency rate before travel, thereby saving them from being affected by any currency fluctuations.The cardholders can create free currency wallets of up to six currencies from a choice of 12 and also withdraw cash from any ATM worldwide that accepts Visa. Sultan Al Mahmoud, Acting Managing Director of Wall Street Exchange, said, “The online payment market in the region is maturing now and consumers are seeking higher security and flexibility in card usage, which makes prepaid cards the preferred option. In prepaid cards, consumers are seeking more innovative features, and Wall Street Exchange is committed to cater to the emerging needs of the users by introducing attractive and innovative features in our cards, along with the ease of use.”

Musafir.com, UAE’s first home-grown, premium-experience travel website, has signed a new regional GCC agreement with Amadeus, a leading technology partner in the global travel industry, to further enhance its e-commerce offering. The agreement will see Amadeus provide the company with its industry-leading business intelligence technologies and access to global travel content through the Amadeus system, for the benefit of Musafir.com’s customers across the GCC region. The company’s website will be powered with Amadeus’ latest advanced solutions such as Master Pricer, Business Intelligence, Fare Optimiser and Productivity Tracker to make the booking experience more efficient and convenient. “Forming strategic agreement with global industry leaders such as Amadeus allows us to access premium travel products and further boost our technological progressions, which is something that matters most to our customers and partners. We are therefore delighted to be partnering with Amadeus who will lend us their extensive expertise and consultancy and fuel our future growth,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the Department of Statistics and Community Development and co-founder of Musafir.com.

Travelport recently announced a multi-year agreement with Mezoon International Travel & Tours (MITT), an affiliate of BCD Travel and one of the largest travel agencies in the Sultanate of Oman. With this agreement, MITT will have access to Travelport’s unrivalled travel content and benefit from its intelligent, fast and accurate search and booking facility to offer its customers information of more than 400 airlines, including low-cost and network carriers, more than 650,000 hotel properties and more than 37,000 car rental locations around the world. MITT can also take advantage of Travelport Smartpoint as its agency desktop to search beyond rates and availability to book a more personalised and tailored travel for its customers, work smarter and subsequently, increase revenues. Riyaz Kuttery, Chief Operating Officer, MITT, commented, “We are delighted by this agreement and look forward to benefitting from Travelport’s content and merchandising capabilities. Travellers have been increasingly expecting more choice and personalization when booking travel and Travelport’s customer-centric technology will enable us to deliver better quality service as well as give our business a continuing opportunity to grow.” Matt Powell, Managing Director, Middle East and South Asia, Travelport, added, “Travelport welcomes one of the Middle East’s leading travel agencies as our newest partner in the region. To maintain their leadership in today’s competitive world of travel, Mezoon needs access to both extensive global travel choice as well as the very best travel booking technology, and this has remained our focus and an area in which we have continued to invest and lead.”

A staycation, a vacation or a desert trip in UAE has become much more fun and easier to plan with Adventure Emirates launching its website, www.adventureemirates.com. This is an online reservation website that provides instant booking confirmation, and features a “book now, pay later” facility that makes the reservation process less daunting. The website also serves as an informative portal for tourists seeking better understanding of the UAE without any digital clutter. Further, there is a 24-hour online customer support service for providing instant assistance to every customer. Through this website, Adventure Emirates offers over 300 tried and tested excursions, including half-day and full-day sightseeing, safaris, boat tours as well as water activities like kayaking and jet ski in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. Trips across Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah will soon be online, thus encouraging tourists to discover all the seven emirates. A specialized team of local experts allows Adventure Emirates to cater to different group sizes plus corporates and MICE.

The Travel Agents’ Academy will return to Arabian Travel Market in 2017 with two half-day sessions on Thursday 27 April, at Dubai World Trade Centre. Beginning at 10am in Hall 1, scheduled topics for the free-to-attend 2017 programme include itinerary planning, sales training and destination briefings, with a networking break, refreshments and a course completion certificate for all delegates. Tackling one of the most pressing issues for travel agents, the first session will see Rohit Bassi, Managing Director of In Learning, return to ATM following an incredibly popular address at ATM 2016. This year, Bassi will discuss “Soul of Sales – The Nine Universal Principles” which includes how to teach travel agents how to build credibility and connection with clients; how to identify and offer solutions to clients; negotiation and management techniques; and to manage the transformation from sale to client relationship. Bassi, who established In Learning in 2011, is renowned for teaching a range of key business skills and is the only licensed trainer for Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway® in the UAE, which builds on the teachings of the self-development book written by Susan Jeffers.  He has previously consulted for Nielsen, Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, Emirates NBD, Bayt.com, DFS Logistics, Alshaya, Oracle, EMC, Emaar Hospitality, Harley-Davidson, HSBC and ADBC. Following on will be Sundar Vasudayen, Principle Consultant at TRS Consulting will share itinerary planning tips for well-travelled clients looking for something unique.   Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: “The Travel Agents’ Academy at this year’s Arabian Travel Market is being held at a timely juncture in the role of travel agents. Travel trends analyst Skift noted how, a few years back, the digital …

Riyadh Travel Fair’s (RTF) 2017 edition drew to a close for the ninth consecutive year, at Prince Sultan Grand Hall, Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh. The 2017 edition is the largest on record with an increase in both the number of exhibitors and visitor arrivals. 270 exhibitors were present representing 55 countries. Over 50 national and regional pavilions had a prominent presence with the show floor space as it increased by 10 per cent compared to the 2016 event. The fair was inaugurated by His Excellency Majid A. Al-Hokair, Chairman of the Committee for Tourism and Entertainment Riyadh Chamber and Chairman of Board Directors for Riyadh International Conference and Exhibition Center. The four day event became the focus of business networking opportunities, insightful seminar sessions, ministerial discussions and the recognition of 12 months of the tourism industry’s achievements. Bander’ Algryni, General Manager, ASAS Exhibitions, said: “The 2017 edition is the largest Riyadh Travel Fair to date thereby extending our prominence as the leading travel and tourism exhibition in the kingdom. More than 250 exhibitors from Tourism Boards, airlines, tour operators and hotels from more than 50 countries are present in the exhibition. “It’s been a year of growth not only for the tourism and hospitality industry in the Kingdom, but for RTF; and with Saudi nationals increasingly travelling overseas at a greater number year on year, the opportunities that the RTF provides for domestic and overseas destinations, hospitality service providers and other tourism related businesses, to directly meet with the kingdom’s leading travel professionals and travellers has never been more significant.” The Riyadh Travel Fair was open to both travel professionals and the general public looking for in-depth destination information and …

Saudi Arabia-based Almosafer has released its new flight reservation feature for both their web and mobile App platforms. The service is valid for customers travelling to and from the Kingdom through more than 500 airlines globally. Farooq Aljeraisy, the founder and CEO of Almosafer, said, “The Kingdom is currently undergoing a revolutionary transformation under the leadership of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to achieve sustainable development to build a brighter economy. One of the key sectors witnessing this change is travel and tourism. We are in sync with all the progress in this sector and are positioning Almosafer as a spearhead in this development. ” Aljeraisy confirmed that users can now compare flight rates and instantly get the best possible rates through the mobile application, making it easier, safer and more convenient than traditional booking channels. Once the booking is confirmed, customers will instantly receive their ticket and confirmation through email. The portal also provides a call center to re-confirm any amendments and address any inquiries about the booking. Since it was established in 2013, Almosafer has successfully enabled customers across the world to choose from over 500,000 hotels and resorts seamlessly in the most convenient manner through its website, call center (920000997) and other digital platforms. Customers have also taken advantage of the “book now and pay later” service the portal offers, which has disrupted the e-booking service across the industry.