Travelport enters Bahrain

Travelport GDS has announced its investment in Bahrain, where it has established new Galileo operations to provide  support to the local travel trade.

The GDS provider confirmed it has taken over distribution of its Galileo platform in the Kingdom following the end of its agreement with Middle East Computer Services (MECOS), part of Al Safar Group, and that it will serve all Galileo subscribers from a new, wholly-owned operation in Manama.

With a full-service team in place to meet the needs of Galileo travel agents and partners, the new support structure will enhance the resources available to the local travel industry, facilitating access to Travelport’s extensive international network, best-of-breed technology products and comprehensive training programmes.

Overseeing the new operation is Travelport’s newly-appointed director for the Lower Gulf Region, Ghulam Saleh Al Balooshi, a Bahraini national and highly-experienced GDS veteran with more than 35 years experience within the travel industry:

“As a result of this new distribution structure, we are well positioned to respond to the growing needs of the travel trade and nurture our long-term presence in Bahrain,” said Balooshi. “We look forward to having a direct relationship with local travel agents and injecting innovation, competition and value to the local landscape,” he added.

Reinforcing its continued strength in the Middle East, Travelport’s investment in Bahrain builds on the successful direct operations it has set-up across the region, with an efficient, direct distribution network for Galileo-connected travel agents already in place across the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

A special ceremony was held in Manama yesterday to mark the official launch of Travelport’s entry into Bahrain, which was attended by more than 250 local travel agents, who will now be able to deal directly with Travelport for all of their travel technology needs.