AGREEMENTS forged in Lebanon were recently announced by Travelport GDS, providers operating the Galileo and Worldspan platforms, as it puts the final touches to its new local support structure across the Middle East region.
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 opened five new offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, over 100 new employees been recruited to its regional team and new distributor agreements in Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Travelport has 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.
These arrangements 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 successful relationship which has seen the GDS’s share of the market in Jordan grow to over 70 per cent.
