Six Continents Hotels' global sales drive brings overseas and Middle East success

The Global Sales Team, which was formed only six months ago, has generated almost 200,000 room nights.

The major volume of traffic came from the GCC countries, with the most popular overseas destinations being London, Paris, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Hotels in Lebanon, the Red Sea area of Egypt, and Cairo enjoyed the biggest share of inter-regional business.

"The response from the Middle East market overall has been outstanding, and we expect significant growth over the next year" said Muin Serhan, Director of Global Sales, Middle East.

Supporting more than 3,270 hotels and resorts managed by Six Continents Hotels around the world, the Global Sales team was set up as part of a double initiative by the company to boost outbound and domestic business.

In May this year, the Six Continents Hotels Middle East Central Reservations Office opened in Dubai, bringing convenient and instant toll-free telephone bookings at hotels and resorts worldwide. In July alone, more than 16,000 callers used the new reservations hub.

Explained Serhan: "The Global Sales team supports and promotes the Reservations Office, while concentrating our efforts on catering to the needs of travel agents and major corporate clients."

"Each member of the team is highly experienced in the local market segments they cover. They have achieved excellent results in the first year, and we will be looking to expand our efforts in the near future, and focus strategically on those areas where we think there is even greater potential."