Kuwait-based agency Rehlat has selected Sabre Corporation to power its online platform, rehlat.com. Rehlat opted for Sabre’s industry-leading technology and travel management services to increase its online conversion performance, revenue and customer satisfaction as well as personalize its offering, Bader Al Bader, President and founder of Rehlat Travel said, “It’s only been a couple of months since we launched our operations on Sabre, but we have already seen the positive impact on our sales and performance. Sabre’s global expertise in online travel, impressive dedication, and scale of cutting-edge technology made them an easy choice to help us provide a personalized travel experience for our customers. We look forward to rolling out new capabilities in mobile and social media to meet the expectations of our tech-savvy travelers.” Daniel Naoumovitch, CEO Sabre Travel Network Middle East stated, “Online travel has doubled in the Middle East since 2013 and online travel agencies, like Rehlat, are exceeding growth expectations as more and more consumers head online to shop for travel. We share Rehlat’s passion to provide a seamless travel experience and believe that technology can simplify the complexity of today’s travel, and unlock greater value, revenue and efficiency.”
Read More »Hotels.com revamps Middle East site
Hotels.com has recently refurbished and improved the functionality of its Middle Eastern websites, in both English and Arabic, to improve both usability and performance. Hotels.com already serves millions of customers globally through 89 localised websites in 39 languages, and is continuously building its portfolio of properties with the latest hotel deals for popular destinations like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Hotels.com offers an unsurpassed hotel booking experience and unbeatable Secret Prices to Hotels.com™ Rewards members, making it ideally positioned to cater to the hotel booking needs of the regional market. “We know that speed is important to our customers and we want to provide fastest booking experience possible in all languages on desktop and mobile. In fact, one in every three bookings on Hotels.com globally is now made on mobile. Speed and convenience are crucial to delivering unsurpassed experiences for our customers,” commented Michael Korkia, Senior Marketing Manager EMEA for the Hotels.com brand.
Read More »Air Canada taps new markets in the Middle East
Air Canada is expanding its reach within the Middle East and aims to tap new markets such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The only four star international network carrier in North America, Air Canada celebrated one year of their operations in Dubai recently in the presence of Margaret Skinner, Director Sales EMEAI, Air Canada. Skinner says that the Dreamliner is a game changer for them, but now they have upgraded it to a Boeing 777 for the convenience of the passengers travelling from Dubai – Toronto route and vice versa. Deepu Cyriac, Country Manager for UAE/GCC, Air Canada, stated that they recently opened BSP in Kuwait. They are further expanding their services to have SPA partnerships with Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Oman Air and Saudi Arabian Airline to travel via Dubai and London to more destinations in Canada. This flexibility has seen a very good growth from the region. They are currently serving a very good mix of markets around the region.
Read More »Four Seasons at Kuwait’s Burj Alshaya to open by 2017
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Alshaya announced plans for a Four Seasons hotel in Kuwait. Located in downtown Kuwait City, Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya will open in early 2017 as part of Alshaya’s new Burj Alshaya mixed-use development. The 284-room Four Seasons Hotel will be located in the Burj Alshaya’s 22-storey Eastern Tower. The Hotel will become the newest addition to a collection of outstanding Four Seasons properties in the Middle East and North Africa region, where the company has been present for the past 16 years, and the latest property in a series of recent openings in the GCC, including Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre and Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island. Featuring two soaring glass towers, the 140,000 square metre (1.5 million square foot) Burj Alshaya complex will combine modern architecture, avant-garde luxury and bold design cues to create a prestigious backdrop for business and a new focal point of the city’s elite social scene. The luxurious Four Seasons address will offer both indoor and outdoor pools, creating an urban resort oasis complete with a poolside waterfall, lush greenery and outdoor cabanas. The Hotel will also feature a world-class spa, yoga studio and state-of-the-art fitness centre as well as two ballrooms and a range of conference and banqueting rooms able to welcome up to 2000 people.
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