01 Al Tayyar Travel Group
Offices: 315 Staff: 1,700 Vice Chairman and President: Dr. Nasser Al Tayyar

Riyadh-based Al Tayyar Travel Group (ATG) was established over 30 years ago and is now one of Saudi Arabia’s largest travel and tourism groups, offering five key sectors of travel, tourism, cargo, accommodation, Hajj and Umrah services; as well as a plethora of complementary services such as transport, domestic tourism, insurance and conferences and meetings organisation.

ATG has more than 1,700 employees in the Middle East travel sector and has expanded outside Saudi across the region into Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon and the GCC with over 315 offices. In 2010 the company reported sales volumes of over US $1 billion (SAR 3.8 billion). ATG specialises in corporate travel and is the largest travel company in the Middle East with a 21% market share of the KSA market.

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The company is now focusing on gaining an increasing share of the retail market by leveraging its network and online capabilities.

2011 has seen ATG unveil a brand new corporate identity in a bid to keep the company in line with the continuously evolving travel industry; as well as a new advertising campaign. The fresh look is part of a comprehensive revamp for the entire company which includes adoption of more sophisticated technology with the launch of a new booking engine altayyaronline.com.

Also in keeping with the latest technology trends, ATG launched a flight booking iPhone app exclusively for Middle East customers in collaboration with Amadeus and 2Share. The 2ShareTravel app for iPhone is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia.

ATG also tied up with Al Shamel International as part of a drive to expand the company’s presence in the Gulf markets through the new partnership.

On top of all of that ATG is helping to put travel and tourism on the map in Saudi Arabia — being the first ever travel company to win the prestigious Prince Nayef Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Gold Award for Saudisation. The company was recognised for its continuing efforts to attract Saudi Nationals into the industry and to offer full training to all levels of staff through its Al Tayyar Training Academy.

The award was seen as a fitting tribute to the vision of president of the group Dr. Nasser Al Tayyar, who believes Saudisation to be a vital factor in the growth and development of all companies within the Kingdom.