Dnata, the Dubai-based international travel conglomerate, has acquired bd4travel, the online booking portal for travel agents.
This was announced this week at the Global Travel Group Annual Conference by Iain Andrew, division senior vice president - travel services, Dnata. Mr Andrew named this acquisition among the wins Dnata has attained in the past year, along with growth in India, the acquisition of German tour operator Tropo and the contract to run Etihad's customer service contact centres. bd4travel offers services such as personalisation, so agents can tailor packages to customers based on their profiles, and analytics to give agents data to assist in selling based on customer behaviour and shopping experiences. Dnata has also signed a deal with Neo, the travel-booking tool for business traveller customers, to provide hotel and tour inventories.
Mr Andrew told the conference that the Dubai-based group's takeover of Etihad's customer service contact centres started rumours about a possible merger between Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad. However, Mr Andrew denied these rumours, telling the conference "there is nothing in that ... we are just helping our sister in Abu Dhabi".
Dubai will be hosting Expo 2020 and Mr Andrew said this event is aimed at encouraging tourism. He said Dnata would "work with travel agents worldwide to get people excited" about the event, which will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates. The event will take place at a 4km long, 2km wide site which is under construction.
Mr Andrew discussed the political concerns which have impacted on Dnata. However, in regard to Brexit, he said he does not "believe it will be as dramatic as people make out" and that Dubai will continue to be an easy destination to access with a British passport.
Within the Middle East, he said that relations with Qatar and Iran had become "a little bit testy". Despite the blockade on Qatar instigated by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Mr Andrew said Dnata still does business with Qatar, describing the neighbouring Arabian Gulf state as "still a big customer".
In regard to Iran, Mr Andrew said Dnata had to close down its operations there because "Trump made it impossible to do business in Iran". However, he is hopeful that Iran will open up again in the future and that it will represent an opportunity for selling inbound and outbound travel.
In conclusion, Mr Andrew outlined trends. This included destinations working to prevent "overtourism" by encouraging agents to sell holidays away from the popular attractions and "find something different for customers to do." He gave the example of Egypt and recommended agents encourage visitors to include activities such as visiting a local family as part of itineraries instead of heading to the Pyramids.
Dnata will continue to push Middle East and Asian destinations, as well as Africa, where Mr Andrew said growth has occurred. He added that some African countries are "starting to be more visitable" and that is another opportunity which agents can exploit.
