Travelport unveils investment plans for east Africa, in response to region’s projected 7% GDP growth

GDS provider reinforces commitment to the region in response to projected 7% GDP growth

Nairobi, Kenya, 2013-07-15 — /travelprnews.com/ — Travelport, a leading distribution services and e-commerce provider for the global travel industry, has unveiled its investment plans for east Africa, in response to projected 7% growth in the region’s GDP. According to recent research from Euromonitor International (‘East Africa Set to Become Next Emerging Market Region to Watch’), the GDP growth in east Africa is set to peak at 7% by 2017, making it the fastest growing regional economy in Africa.

Subsequent research (‘Tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa to Continue to Enjoy Robust Growth’) also indicates that the tourism industry in sub-Saharan Africa continues to develop fast, with a 4.7% increase in arrivals in 2012 – higher than the global average of 4.3% and second only to Asia Pacific with 5.1%. By 2017, the number of tourists travelling to sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach 42.6 million.

According to Euromonitor International, this growth has been fuelled by strong economic improvement and rising disposable incomes, with business and leisure visits to domestic and regional destinations growing in number, alongside an increase in the number of arrivals from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. In light of this growth, Travelport has emphasised its focus on Africa as a strategic investment region by unveiling a robust business strategy for the country based on Travelport’s four pillars of investment – Unrivalled Content, Intelligent Search, Empowered Selling Experience and Open Platform.
Specifically, in the next 12 months Travelport will:

• Introduce a range of new products for Africa’s travel trade. Since the start of 2013, Travelport has already launched a number of new solutions including Travelport Merchandising Platform, pioneering technology for airline distribution, and Agentivity, Travelport’s business intelligence suite. South Africa also became the regional pilot for Rapid Reprice, Travelport’s unique revenue management tool, and the roll-out continues across the region. More products are in the pipeline for the next twelve months.
• Boost Travelport’s east Africa ‘hub’ in Nairobi. Travelport cemented its commitment to east Africa in April 2013 with the launch of direct operations in Kenya and subsequent expansion of its east Africa ‘hub’. Since April, Travelport has substantially grown its team in Kenya and provides on-the-ground expertise and support in commercial, product and customer training and support.
• Focus on online and mobile technologies. The online and mobile  space continue to develop at a rapid rate in Africa  and Travelport will continue to invest in online and mobile technologies to complement existing products already available in the region such as Travelport Mobile Agent, which enables Travelport-connected agents to gain access to Galileo desktop from their smartphone, and Travelport View Trip Mobile, the itinerary management tool.

“Travelport has a long history in Africa spanning over 20 years and this remains a strategic investment region for us,” said Mark Meehan, Managing Director, Travelport Africa. “We have continued to grow our footprint across the continent and in the last 18 months alone we’ve added ten new countries to our African network.  We now operate in 47 countries with more in the pipeline.”
“We will therefore continue to invest in Africa – and the east Africa region – through a solid product and business stagey in 2013/14, continuing to grow our regional presence and addressing the evolving needs of our customers. The recent positive feedback we received from our customers, who attended our first ever east Africa customer conference in Zanzibar, indicates we’re definitely on the right track in this region.”

###

About Travelport
Travelport is a leading distribution services and e-commerce provider for the global travel industry.  With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,500 employees and 2012 net revenue of more than $2.0 billion, Travelport is comprised of the global distribution system (“GDS”) business, which includes the Galileo and Worldspan brands, its Airline IT Solutions business and a joint venture ownership of eNett. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Travelport is a privately owned company. Follow Travelport on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Travelport

Media contacts:

Baiba Upmale, PR Manager, Middle East and Africa
Mob: +971 (0)566569535
Email: baiba.upmale@travelport.com
Kate Aldridge, Senior Director, Corporate Communications
mob +44 (0) 7921 698757
Email:  kate.aldridge@travelport.com

Subscribe to Notifications