Sabre Corporation, a leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry, has reached a new agreement with Saudi Arabia's Cool Travel and Tourism to provide its industry-leading technology to support the travel agency’s expansion plans and online growth.
 
Sabre and Cool Travel and Tourism have shared a commitment to innovation through travel technology for years, and the new three-year deal will represent an extended, broader relationship between the two companies. Cool Travel will be using the new Sabre Red Workspace, the technology provider’s next-generation travel agency desktop, benefiting from industry-leading content, data-driven insights and an intuitive interface. Under the agreement, Cool Travel will use the Sabre global distribution system (GDS) as one of its key platforms to shop, book and manage travel content from among 400 airlines, 900,000 hotel options and 40 car rental brands.

“We are known for our exceptional customer service and adoption of latest technologies,” said Yousif Al Rajhi, chairman, Cool Travel and Tourism. “Today, we remain committed to providing the best prices, premium service and specialized travel industry expertise both online and offline. We are working with Sabre to grow in the online space and serve our customers even better and more efficiently in the future.”
 
Online travel is growing significantly in Saudi Arabia driven by high adoption for consumer technologies and high expectations from the travel players. Online travel bookings represent approximately 32 per cent of the overall Saudi travel market and this is projected to reach 40 per cent by 2021.

“The Saudi market is rapidly evolving, driven by changing consumer and traveller expectations as well as availability and adoption of new technologies,” said Raymond Vrijenhoek, vice president, Sabre Travel Network, Middle East. “Sabre’s investments in mobile, data, merchandising and automation technology helps Cool Travel meet the needs of the tech-savvy traveller, delivering a more seamless, customised traveller experience.

“We are committed to supporting Cool Travel and Tourism’s plans to enter the online space and providing industry-leading technology to support their growth. This is aligned with our desire to empower travel companies to become true travel consultants, and to grow and compete with global players,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service