Tag Archives: Abdul-Razzaq Iyer

Sabre Corporation has appointed Aditya Varma as Regional Director for Sabre Travel Network Middle East (STNME) based in the region’s headquarters in Bahrain. Varma will lead the sales operations and customer relationships for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, key growth countries for Sabre in the Middle East. He is tasked with managing customer relationships, as well as identifying and executing commercial and new sales opportunities to help accelerate growth in the region. “Varma has extensive sales and customer management experience across multiple regions which makes him a great addition to our leadership team,” said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, Vice President, STNME. “As we continue our mission to reimagine the business of travel, his role will be essential in supporting our strategy and sales operations while we continue to identify innovative technology and solutions to drive our customers’ and the travel business forward.” Varma brings more than 20 years of experience in the aviation and travel industry. He has worked across multiple geographies including the Middle East, Africa, India sub-continent and Russia managing multinational teams and growing his sales excellence expertise. Varma joins Sabre from Travelport where he was the Regional Manager for distributor markets in Middle East & South Asia. Prior to this, he held senior commercial positions with KLM and Air Arabia; the first low cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East. He holds an MBA from the University of Leicester.  

Al Murshed Travel and Tourism has inked an exclusive deal with Sabre Corporation to gain continued access to Sabre’s portfolio of innovative technology and its intelligent platform Sabre Red 360, allowing it to effectively harness data and deliver superior content to its travellers.  This unique technology will help enable the travel company to differentiate its offering, compete more effectively and grow faster in the region, as well as expand into the online sector. “As its long-standing technology partner, we are committed to supporting its plans to enter the online space and providing industry leading technology to support its growth. This is aligned with our desire to empower travel companies to become true travel consultants, and to grow and compete with global players,” said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, Vice President, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. As a key part of its goal to leverage the growth of online travel in the Middle East, Al Murshed Travel is investing in the latest technology and solutions to advance the services and content it offers its travellers. “We are working to leverage its expertise and innovations to grow in the online space and serve our customers even better and more efficiently in the future,” said Salah Al Murshed, Commercial Director, Al Murshed Travel and Tourism.  

One of the leading travel agencies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Al Khunaizi Travel, has signed a long-term agreement with Sabre Corporation, the leading technology provider to the global travel industry. Under this agreement, Al Khunaizi will continue to access Sabre’s marketplace of more than 400 airlines, 750,000 hotel properties, and hundreds of tour operators, rail, car and cruise providers, giving Al Khunaizi the opportunity to sell personalised travel packages from suppliers all over the world. The agency accesses the marketplace through the Sabre Red 360 platform, which features a customisable and intuitive user experience using data-driven insights to guide travel consultants. “New technology is driving changes in consumer behaviour and traveller expectations, and there’s now a greater demand for more personalised services,” said Ammar Al Khunaizi, CEO, Al Khunaizi Travel. “Sabre’s advanced technology and expertise, combined with its skilled team, have helped optimise our business, and cemented our position as a pioneer in delivering new traveller experiences. We look forward to growing with Sabre and delivering a superior personalised travel service to our customers.” “As traveller expectations evolve, so must the travel industry, and travel management companies that embrace advancements in data, online and mobile will continue to stay relevant in today’s fast-changing world,” said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, Vice President, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. “Our advanced technology and network of travel suppliers will help Al Khunaizi to offer a wealth of choice to its travellers and provide personalised and seamless traveller experiences.”

Global Travel and Tourism, one of the leading travel agencies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has signed an exclusive multi-year agreement with Sabre Corporation to continue use of its innovative technology and platform to manage travel. Under this agreement, Global Travel will continue to access Sabre’s portfolio of innovative technology and its intelligent platform Sabre Red 360, allowing it to harness more data, content and flexibility to differentiate its offering, compete more effectively and grow faster in the region. “As a key customer for Sabre for more than a decade, we’re thrilled to continue to support the future growth and plans of Global Travel,” said Abdul Razzaq-Iyer, Vice President, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. “We are constantly evolving our technology, enabling us to offer agencies faster innovation and more flexible solutions infused with data-driven insights.” Online travel is growing significantly in the Middle East driven by high adoption for consumer technologies and high expectations from the travel players. Studies indicate that online travel bookings represent approximately 32 per cent of the overall ME travel market and this is projected to reach 40 percent by 2021. “We are delighted to renew our long-standing partnership with Sabre to support our plans to enter the online space,” said Suhaib Kidwai, CEO, Global Travel and Tours. “We have enjoyed a very successful long-standing partnership with Sabre and now it’s time to extend this privilege to use their global expertise to establish our online presence in the region. We are sure Sabre is the right partner to lead us through this transition and trust that it has the technology, expertise and the right team to make this happen.”

Bahwan Travel Group, the leading travel company in the Sultanate of Oman, has chosen to renew its technology agreement with Sabre Corporation. Under the new agreement, Bahwan Travel will benefit from Sabre’s latest technology and solutions to accelerate business growth in Oman and the region. This renewal provides Bahwan Travel with continued access to Sabre’s portfolio of innovative technology across the region, including its industry-leading Sabre Red 360 agency solution and the latest data analytics, personalisation and automation capabilities. “As online travel is growing year-over-year, it is imperative for us to invest in our online platform, and provide our customers with a more personalised and seamless travel shopping experience,” said Gururaj, General Manager, Bahwan Travel Group. “Sabre by far is the most advanced technology provider in the travel industry; its global expertise in online travel, impressive dedication, and scale of cutting-edge technology made it a logical choice to help us grow our business, be more efficient, and add value for customers.” “As travellers’ expectations rise in line with technology adoption, Bahwan Travel Group understands the role of technology in serving its tech-savvy travellers,” said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, Vice-President, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. “Bahwan Travel has a strong vision for growth in the online space and we are working with the team to provide technology, expertise and best practices to build its competitive advantage as a leading online travel agency in the region.” Bahwan Travel Group 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 personalised travel packages from suppliers all over the world. The agency accesses the marketplace through the new …

Sabre Corporation is sponsoring the Travel Technology Theatre at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM 2019), from April 28 to May 1, 2019. Executive speakers from Sabre and guest customers will participate in the seminar programme and showcase latest technology in the travel and hospitality sector including NDC, emerging technology, retailing and digitalisation and discuss industry challenges and opportunities. Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, Vice President, Sabre Travel Network Middle East will be present at the event seminar and speak about the evolution of the travel industry in the Middle East and how can companies leverage new trends and technology to respond to customers’ expectations. “This is such an exciting time for the travel sector. The industry is evolving, constantly adapting to the increasing expectations of tech-travelers, which are higher and more diverse than ever before,” said Iyer. “The rise of new technologies and trends are creating more opportunities for all players in the travel industry and we are here to support our customers and the market to learn about everything new in travel and how to leverage these opportunities.” Sabre is also highlighting through its seminar programme the evolution of travel distribution and how NDC is changing the landscape of the industry. “Due to growing pressure from the industry, travel suppliers are increasingly differentiating their offerings – looking to retail and merchandise to travellers in new ways – to maximize their revenues. Sabre isn’t waiting for NDC adoption – we believe it is just one component of a wider shift in retailing and distribution in the travel industry, and we are this year developing exciting new technology that will help suppliers to tell their stories effectively through the indirect channel.” Iyer added.