DUBAI: Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform, was named the Best Technology Partner to the travel and hospitality industry in the Middle East for the second consecutive year at Arabian Travel Awards, which was recently held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Deira, Dubai. During the ceremony, the company also scooped the Best Travel Technology Provider award, a category formerly known as Best Global Distribution System, which Travelport also won in 2017. Arabian Travel Awards is an annual event designed to support, promote and develop the Middle East Travel and Hospitality industry by identifying and rewarding excellence, and inspiring its…
Author: holidayweekly
LAHORE: The Government of Punjab has decided to explore new avenues for tourism in the province. The Government also plans to venture into projects in collaboration with private sector, said Senior Punjab Minister Abdul Aleem Khan. He was presiding over the party’s 100-day plan review meeting in Lahore. Punjab Tourism Minister Raja Yasir Humayun, Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Husain Durrani, Punjab tourism department secretary and other senior officials of departments concerned also attended the meeting. The minister underscored that apart from Murree, several untapped tourism avenues are available in the province such as Khushab, Taxila, Kotli Satiaan and Rohtaas where…
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines, The National Flag Carrier of Pakistan, has recently finalized on changing their hosting solution to Hitit Computer Services with state of the art features for an enhanced reservation experience. “We, at Travelport, welcome the National Carrier and extend our services to cater to PIA distribution, reservation & ticketing requirements.”said Mr. Shaheen Premani, COO TSL (Pvt.) Ltd. Through Travelport GDS platform, all IATA agents shall have the capability to make reservations and issue the tickets for their customers. In order to ensure a smooth transition and ease the training of our agency users, training videos have been…
MADRID: UNWTO announced a competition, focused on the search for innovative startups capable of transforming the way people travel and experience tourism, while adhering closely to the principles of sustainability (economic, social, environmental). The first edition of the UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition, organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in partnership with Globalia, the leading tourism group in Spain and Latin America, is the world’s first and largest initiative devoted to identifying new companies that will lead the transformation of the tourism sector and fostering innovation ecosystems through tourism. The semi-finalists have been invited to present their projects in the…
NEW DELHI: First ever Indian Travel Mart was organized in New Delhi from 16th to 18th September 2018. Earlier it was announced that PM Modi will inaugurate the event, however the event was inaugurated by Mr. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways and Coal in the presence of Union Tourism Minister, K J Alphons and the Tourism Minister of Morocco, Mohamed Sajid. Inaugurating the event, Goyal wished the best to the Tourism Ministry to reach the ambitious goal of US$100 billion FTA receipts/year within 5 years. He said that unless the infrastructure is improved, India can’t come up as a…
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has introduced a new ‘social messaging’ plan which provides all passengers with free access to iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp onboard. Saudia is the first airline in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia regions to introduce a complimentary social media messaging plan onboard flights. On May 5 this year, Saudia initially introduced the free Whatsapp plan onboard domestic flights, which expanded to include all international flights less than a month later, on May 31. As of today, more than 500,000 guests have logged on and experienced the free Whatsapp plan. Four months later, the…
DOHA: Qatar Airways reported on Tuesday a $69 million loss for the financial year ending March 31, citing a regional political dispute that has seen it banned from four Arab countries. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain have banned Qatar Airways since June 2017 as part of a dispute they have with the government of Qatar. “This turbulent year has inevitably had an impact on our financial results,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in a statement. Adding “the most challenging year in its 20-year history”. The airline, which restated its year-earlier profit to 2.8 billion riyals,…
DUBAI: Leading travel commerce platform Travelport has appointed Mark Meehan as Managing Director of its newly formed Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APACMEA) region. Meehan has built a distinguished career at Travelport, having been successful in a range of high-profile global and regional roles over his 19-year tenure with the company. Most recently, he was Managing Director of Travelport’s Asia Pacific operations, which grew by 10 per cent during 2017. Prior to this, Meehan was Managing Director for Travelport Africa, a role that saw him grow the company’s share across the continent and establish owned operations in both South…
ISLAMABAD: The tourists Monday demanded the concerned authorities to upgrade and continue the maintenance work on roads and motels located in the hilly tourist resorts of Daso as these were in shambles for over last ten years. “The beauty of the Daso is unmatched with the name given paradise of earth which is being neglected after the earthquake”. An archaeologist Samar Majid said that after the earthquake October 2008, there have been no efforts made to restore the place as it was once as the earthquake caused a huge loss to its beauty. “The region is not being given importance…
MUSCAT: Oman Air, the national carrier of the sultanate, has added another exotic destination to its expanding network – Athens, the capital of Greece. The airline said this was first of its several new routes to be launched in 2019. The daily flight to and from Athens will be operated with the new-state-of-the-art Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, said a statement from Oman Air. Outlining its 2019 plans, CEO Engineer Abdul Aziz Al Raisi said: “We are extremely proud and happy to add Athens to our rapidly growing network, as the first of several new routes to be launched in 2019.…