Travelport GDS completes build-out of new Middle East distribution and support structure

Last year, the company announced its intention to make a multi-million dollar investment in the region establishing a new, highly efficient direct support network for travel agents in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as refining its distributor relationships in other key markets in order to cement its position as the preferred GDS in the region.

Since then, Travelport GDS has announced the opening of five new offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, over a hundred new employees recruited to its regional team and new distributor agreements in Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The announcement made today outlines further significant agreements made by the GDS provider as it continues to ramp up its operations across the region. Specifically, Travelport has today revealed details of an extended partnership with its Worldspan distributor in Lebanon also to distribute its Galileo GDS, as well as a multi-year full content deal with Lebanese flag carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA).

The latest new distributor arrangements signed in Lebanon add to those recently announced in Syria and Jordan. They have all been signed with carefully selected local organisations with a proven track record in successful GDS distribution and include the new Galileo GDS agreement announced today with Gate 7, now to trade as Travelport-Lebanon, and a new distributor agreement with Adhal and Khazem & Co in Syria, headed up by Nibal Ismal, who previously held senior management positions at Syrian Arab Airlines. Travelport has also re-appointed Royal Jordanian Airlines, the current Galileo distributor in Jordan, to continue distributing its products. This builds on a very successful relationship which started in 1991 and saw the GDS's share of the market in Jordan grow to over 70 per cent.

The new content agreement with MEA, the former Galileo distributor in Lebanon, reflects the ongoing close relationship the two companies intend to maintain in the Lebanese market. This new airline content will be accessible by all Travelport GDS users both within the region and worldwide. In addition to the content deal, Najwa Tarabah and a select team of MEA staff, who were previously responsible for the Galileo distribution arm of MEA, have moved across to Travelport Lebanon.

The newly-structured Travelport GDS will mark the official opening of its new operations in the region through a number of local customer events to be held early in 2009. In addition, the company will also be rolling out a wide range of Travelport GDS products and solutions throughout 2009 including ePricing, its industry leading shopping solution for airfares.

"The significant progress we have made this year to expand our market presence in the Middle East reflects the commitment and belief our company has in this region. Our focus to date has been to ensure we are hiring top industry talent to support our customers as well as building on our existing operations in the region and partnering with leading local organisations who truly understand the markets in which they operate. We are delighted by the positive response we have had from many of our customers who have already given their stamp of approval by re-signing with us. We have achieved a lot!"

commented Rabih Saab, Travelport GDS's vice president for the Middle East.

"We certainly do not intend to rest on our laurels in 2009, though, and plan to roll out exciting new products to ensure our agency customers have access to the very best GDS technology and content so that they can continue to run efficient and successful businesses in the months and years ahead. I am very much looking forward to launching our new business operations officially during our customer events over the next few weeks!"