National carrier Gulf Air and Sabre Corporation, a leading global technology provider to the travel and tourism industry, have marked 10 years of their joint venture partnership - Sabre Travel Network Middle East (STNME).

“Our anniversary with Gulf Air, one of our major airline partners in the region, is a tremendous milestone that reaffirms our commitment to the industry and our valued customers,” said Daniel Naoumovitch, CEO, STNME.

“Over the past decade, we’ve made significant investments in innovative products and solutions that empower the travel industry to grow and better serve travellers. Our expansion across the region is built on a having a strong customer-first culture and a genuine passion for helping our customers grow, innovate and succeed,” he said.

Highlights over the past 10 years include:

• Regional expansion from its home in Bahrain to the entire Mena region - increasing its investment to serve the needs of the growing industry. STNME now operates 23 offices in 13 countries throughout Mena in addition to 15 training centres across the region.
• Strategic agreements with the top agencies across the region to help grow their business, compete globally and reach wider audiences through innovative solutions. Top agency customers include ITL Travel, Kanoo, Dadabhai Travel, Alshamel, Fursan and DNATA. In addition, Sabre expanded its relationship with leading airlines in the region including Oman Air, Etihad, Royal Jordanian, Egypt Air MEA and many others.
• Launch of Sabre Red App Centre, the first B2B app market place that enables developers to contribute to the ongoing innovation in the travel industry. Since its global launch in 2012, Sabre Red App Centre has exceeded 1.2 million downloads by travel agencies worldwide.
• Launch of TripCase, a leading itinerary management app that provides travellers with the right information at the right time. Earlier this year, Sabre launched TripCase on Apple Watch making travel even easier as travellers receive itinerary updates and messages on their wrist.
• Launch of new technology services including web, mobile and ancillary solutions, as well as exclusive products that help agencies create more revenue, reduce their costs, and be more efficient and productive in shopping, booking and managing travel.

“Gulf Air’s partnership with Sabre and the success of our joint venture, STNME, have seen us work together to deliver solutions that make travel even more convenient to passengers. Our continued growth and innovation over the past 10 years is the truest reflection of the strength of this collaboration between a pioneering national carrier and a global travel technology innovator. Built on a strong customer focus, this has been our driving force over the first 10 years and will lead us in the future. We are delighted with our joint successes to date and we are anticipating many more in the future.” said Dr Jassim Haji, Gulf Air director of Information Technology.

STNME was established as a joint venture between Gulf Air and Sabre in 2005 following a 30-year partnership. Since then, it has grown to become the leading provider of technology services to the travel industry in the Middle East.

The milestone was celebrated at a reception held at Gulf Air headquarters, attended by Dean Bibb, Sabre vice president Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa; STNME CEO Daniel Naoumovitch; Gulf Air acting/chief executive officer Maher Al Musallam and Gulf Air director of Information Technology, Dr. Jassim Haji. –TradeArabia News Service