With travel and tourism supporting nearly 3 million jobs in Egypt1, the Travelport initiative on leveraging technology to grow travel businesses locally is welcomed as positive step in challenging times
Cairo, Egypt, May 18 2016: Travelport (NYSE:TVPT), a leading Travel Commerce Platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the global travel and tourism industry is rolling out the Travelport LIVE “Spotlight on Innovation Roadshow” in Egypt this week. The travel-agency focused roadshow takes place in the cities of Cairo and Alexandria on May 18th and 23rd respectively, with over 400 of Egypt’s key travel industry players expected to attend, including leading travel agencies and travel management companies as well as representatives from airlines, corporates and travel and tourism bodies. Travel and tourism contribute 12.8% to Egypt’s GDP and supports nearly three million jobs.
Egypt’s travel and tourism sector has suffered a series of setbacks, but Travelport’s country manager for Egypt, Mervat Alfy, believes initiatives such as the LIVE “Spotlight in Innovation” roadshow contribute to the swifter recovery of the Egypt’s travel industry. Commenting on the initiative, Mervat Alfy, who has over 20 years’ experience operating in Egypt’s travel industry said: “Egypt remains the region’s vital travel hub and Travelport is determined to support Egypt’s travel industry stakeholders through the challenges they face by sharing knowledge on the most cutting edge travel industry technologies they can leverage to grow and accelerate the recovery of their businesses. By 2025, travel and tourism is forecast to support over 3.5 million jobs in Egypt and technology will play a key role in the growth and stability of our industry.1 Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform provides travel agents with a firm foundation for future growth, as well as enabling them to stay competitive in a challenging business environment.”
While Egypt has faced several challenges in recent years, tourism remains one of its leading foreign currency exchange providers and the sector is a key contributor to both GDP and job creation. The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP was EGP255.0bn (12.8% of GDP) in 2014, and is forecast to rise by 4.7% pa to EGP413.2bn (12.4% of GDP) in 2025.
As airline offers get more complex and travellers seek more choice, personalization and flexibility to tailor their journeys according to their needs (i.e., travellers on a budget or who want to earn more miles, carry extra baggage or make last minute travel changes etc.), Travelport Smartpoint and associated technologies are helping travel agents maximize their revenues and profitability with the capability to seamlessly integrate this type of unrivalled content into their travel agency screens. The roadshow will feature a series of interactive sessions which will showcase the solutions and technologies redefining the way travel is being searched, shared and booked by Egypt’s leading travel industry players. In each city, the roadshow’s delegates will have a chance to discuss topics related to air, hospitality, corporate, mobile, customer support as well as learn how to take full advantage of Travelport’s innovation in booking technology to meet the needs of their customers and earn new revenues. Responding to the needs of corporates, the roadshow will also highlight efficient solutions on offer to meet today’s ever-connected business travellers’ expectations.
Since 2012, Travelport have strategically invested approximately $830 million in products with a focus on redefining our Travel Commerce Platform to address the trends, inefficiencies and unmet needs of all components of the travel value chain: Air and Beyond Air, which include distribution and merchandising solutions for hotel, car rental, rail, cruise-line and tour operators, B2B travel payments, mobile solutions, advertising and an array of additional platform services.