Travelport extends its reach to Iraq

Press release

Published January 27th, 2011 - 07:44 GMT

Al Bawaba

Travelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, confirms that it has extended its footprint in the Middle East with the launch of Galileo Iraq, a new entity that will provide Galileo global distribution system (GDS) services in the country.

The news follows the signing of a Galileo distribution agreement between the GDS provider and Rawat Al Hajer, the IT affiliate of Baghdad-based travel and tourism conglomerate Qasr Al Nahrain. The company will be offering Galileo distribution services from February 2011 under the trading name Galileo Iraq.

Galileo Iraq will distribute the GDS platform to local travel agencies, providing them with access to the rich airline, hotel and car content available through the reservation system. In addition to technical infrastructure, Galileo Iraq will also provide travel agents with comprehensive training and support services.

“With its extensive local market knowledge and technical expertise, Rawat Al Hajer is well positioned to help us establish Galileo’s presence in Iraq and effectively serve our new travel agency customers in the country,” said Jennifer D’Souza, regional commercial director, Middle East, Travelport. “We are delighted to partner with them in this promising new venture and look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

“We are excited to get started and provide Iraqi travel agencies with technical resources that can help bring their businesses to a new level of productivity and performance,” said Aws Alhashimi, general manager of Rawat Al Hajer and the newly-formed Galileo Iraq. “We are committed to supporting the local travel trade and aim to play a key role in their future growth and development.”

Established in 2004, Rawat Al Hajer is a leading technology provider in Iraq, helping customers create and sustain a competitive advantage. Known for a results-oriented approach, its team of IT systems integrators are committed to helping businesses develop more efficient operations and processes.

Background Information

Travelport

Travelport is the technology company that makes the experience of buying and managing travel continually better for everyone. It operates a travel commerce platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the global travel and tourism industry. The Company facilitates travel commerce by connecting the world’s leading travel providers with online and offline travel buyers in a proprietary business-to-business (B2B) travel platform.

Travelport has a leadership position in airline merchandising, hotel content and distribution, car rental, mobile commerce and B2B payment solutions. The Company also provides critical IT services to airlines, such as shopping, ticketing, departure control and other solutions. With net revenue of over $2.5 billion in 2018, Travelport is headquartered in Langley, U.K., has over 3,700 employees and is represented in approximately 180 countries and territories.