Tag Archives: Albert Dias

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.

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.”

Musafir.com has announced the launch of its third technology centre in Pune India. Musafir.com is looking to double its technology team by the end of the year. The Pune centre will complement the technology and product teams that are already operating out of centres in the UAE and Mumbai. “Musafir.com was founded with the promise of a stellar user experience backed by the best technology. The establishment of our third technology centre in Pune, reinforces our commitment to this promise. Our aim is to double the strength of our engineering team by the end of the year, and herald a new generation of innovative user experiences for our travelers,” said Albert Dias, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Musafir.com. “The launch of our technology centre reiterates our ever growing focus on the Indian market. Technology is a key ingredient in the growth recipe for any business today; we understand and appreciate this more so than ever, being a travel ecommerce player. Technology is core to our long term strategy and-our technology centre in Pune is an essential cog in the wheel that will propel Musafir.com through the next decade of exponential growth.” said Rajesh Pareek – Group CEO, Musafir.com. Musafir.com has plans to expand further in India and add more countries to its GCC portfolio and this technology and product team based in Pune will help to accelerate the delivery of next-generation web and mobile applications, along with innovative products and solutions for travellers worldwide.