Kempinski Hotels and Sharaf Travel launch central reservation office

As a member of the Sharaf Group, a highly diversified group of companies with an annual turnover of $1 billion, Sharaf Travel is the only travel agency to represent Kempinski worldwide in the UAE and Oman. Besides Kempinski, Sharaf Travel's other high profile partners include Virgin Atlantic and Delta Airlines.

The central reservation office will be present throughout Sharaf Travel's branch network in the UAE and Oman, and will provide travelers with a professional, convenient and reliable one-stop shop for bookings as well as other travel arrangements to any of Kempinski's destinations worldwide.

"We are delighted to have partnered with Sharaf Travel with their vast experience and an extensive coverage of local and regional markets," said Juerg Siegenthaler Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing of Kempinski Hotels. "More importantly, this collaboration allows us to introduce to UAE travelers the range of unique properties we have in our portfolio.

According to the World Tourism Organisation, Arab tourists from the Gulf States spend more than $12 billion on overseas vacations, with the UAE as one of the biggest outbound markets with tourists from the Emirates spending $4.9 billion annually on overseas travel. With an average of $1,700 per trip, which is $500 higher than the European average, the UAE is increasingly being recognized by regional and international tourism destinations as a lucrative source market for tourism revenues. The consistent growth in population coupled with the hectic pace of economic and trade development has led to an increasing number of outbound leisure and business tourists from the UAE.

"Over the last few years, we have seen record-breaking travel activity in the region, and it shows no signs of slowing down. We have been at the forefront of establishing strategic partnerships with hotel groups and airlines to deliver exciting travel packages to our corporate and individual clientele. Kempinski's distinctive collection of hotels appeals to our clients, so we have decided to set up this central reservation office to make available to them what we believe to be a very exceptional hospitality experience,"

said Salah Sharaf, Chairman, Sharaf Travel.