A bouquet offering from Travelport

No doubt, the travel industry in Nigeria has been growing steadily over the recent years as a direct result of the country’s rapid economic development. The rebasing of Nigeria’s economy earlier this year advanced the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), by 89 percent to exceed US $500 billion, effectively making it the largest economy in Africa.

The growth brings with it a direct impact on consumer spending, as 128 million African households are expected to earn US $5,000 a year or more by 2020, enabling them to spend half their income on non-food items (McKinsey, 2014). This means more travel than ever before on and within the continent.

To enable travel agents in Nigeria to take full advantage of these opportunities and to further grow the travel business in Nigeria, Travelport, a leading travel commerce marketplace providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion global travel and tourism industry, is building momentum in the country with significant product launches.

The company recently rolled out six new technology solutions to benefit the country’s rapidly growing travel industry, especially at the local level, and also used the product launch to reinforce its commitment to the development of the Nigerian travel industry.

The products include: Travelport Smartpoint; a revolutionary point of sale solution, Agentivity; Travelport’s business intelligence suite for travel agents, Travelport Merchandising Platform; which allows airlines to connect to Galileo distribution platform in any way they want, and Travelport Mobile Agent; the unique mobile application that enables Travelport-connected agents to gain full access to the Galileo desktop directly from their iPad or iPhone device anytime and anywhere.

Others are: Travelport ViewTrip Mobile; itinerary management tool, which lets agency customers access destination info and their itinerary through their smartphone, iPad or other mobile devices whilst on the move, Galileo E-tracker; the E-ticketing management tool that provides agencies with ready access to view, monitor and generate reports on the status of all E-tickets issued by their organisation via Galileo.

The new innovative solutions will enable both corporate and leisure agencies to take full advantage of the latest travel technology to help their agents work in a much more streamlined and efficient manner.

“Nigeria has one of the most exciting and fastest growing travel industries in the world, and it remains a key investment region for us,” Rabih Saab, president/managing director, Africa, Middle East and South Asia at Travelport, said while announcing the introduction of Travelport’s top solutions to Nigeria during a special industry event in Lagos recently.

“The economy and the travel industry in Nigeria have continued to flourish over the past few years and further growth is expected not only over the coming years, but decades. The launch of these cutting edge solutions therefore further reinforces the vital importance of Nigeria in our regional strategy-both today and in the future”, Saab continued.

More than 150 members of the Nigerian travel industry who gathered to witness the launch of Travelport’s latest offering at the Lagos Oriental Hotel also experienced some of the products, and also commended Travelport for the feat that would change the way travel business is done in the country.

“Introducing these innovative Travelport solutions to the local travel industry will definitely help travel agencies and travel management companies reduce costs, enhance their quality of service and increase productivity. Travelport seems to have a very clear understanding of what we require to take our businesses forward in an ever-changing competitive industry”, Mohammed Kareem from Greywings, commented.

Travelport has been operating in Nigeria since 2011.  It currently operates in 49 countries across the African continent.

OBINNA EMELIKE