Online and mobile are key drivers of travel industry growth in the Middle East, and travel companies seeking sustainable growth need to invest today for their future, it emerged at the recent Connect Online – Innovate, Inspire and Interact event in Dubai.
'Internet penetration in the GCC is now more than 60 per cent, with one out of every two people actively engaged in e-commerce in Dubai. Consumers today are connected online, via smartphones and wearable devices, and expect everything that was once offline to be available online, including travel,' says Daniel Naoumovitch, CEO, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. 'This is great news for the Middle East travel industry because online and mobile technologies allow companies to build a clearer picture of their customer needs, creating opportunities for a closer relationship with their customers. By looking at user behaviours and preferences, companies can target consumers with special offers and create more personalised packages for them. It’s one of the many great opportunities that exist for Middle East companies willing to embrace and invest in digital channels.' he says. According to Phocuswright, Middle East’s online travel is forecast to almost double in value in the next two years. To support this trend, Sabre shared examples of how it is equipping travel businesses with the right tools, expertise and solutions to be part of this evolution. Experts from Sabre showcased its latest online solutions, including low-fare shopping capabilities, as well as solutions like Sabre Dev Studio, Virtual Payment and GetThere. 'Travel companies need to differentiate their business and create new revenue opportunities and introducing the latest online and mobile capabilities are a great way of doing that,' says Antonella Vecchio, vice-president, Online and Land and Sea, Sabre Travel Network, EMEA. 'Online in particular is a highly competitive, fast-growing industry which has to respond to rapidly changing trends and issues such as search evolution, mobile expansion, and website and business performance. Investment in technology is key to differentiating OTA services and providing a competitive edge, and gives travellers an easy and more personalised shopping experience that will result in greater loyalty and business results,' she says.Vecchio gives additional insight: 'The Middle East is slightly behind compared to continental Europe for a number of reasons. Technology was not ready, frauds were a big issue, online payment was not really that strong. But since a few months back, we feel that we have everything ready to make sure that this segment is ready to take off.'The Middle East market is still replete with traditional agencies wary of the online domain and choose to ignore it as long as they possibly can. 'We have very good training, very good on-site support, we hand-hold people through a lot of reservations coming from the staff with regards to online,' reassures Naz Nizari, senior vice-president – Emirates Airlines, EmQuest, which manages Sabre in the UAE. After acquiring Abacus earlier last year, Sabre also announced its plans to acquire the Trust Group of Companies, a central reservations, revenue management and hotel marketing provider with a significant presence in EMEA and Asia Pacific. The acquisition, worth $154 million, will include Trust International, InnLink and Nexus.Together with the Trust Group, Sabre Hospitality Solutions will serve significantly more hotels than any other central reservations technology provider.