CAPE TOWN, South Africa, and SOUTHLAKE, Texas – May 25, 2018 – Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), the leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry, has reached a new agreement with Club Travel, one of South Africa’s largest travel agency groups, to provide its industry-leading distribution services to agents throughout the country.
For years Sabre and Club Travel have shared a commitment to innovation through travel technology, and the new five-year deal will represent an extended, broader relationship between the two companies. Club Travel will be using the new Sabre Red Workspace, the technology provider’s next-generation travel agency desktop, benefiting from industry-leading content, data-driven insights and an intuitive interface. Under the agreement, Club Travel Group will use the Sabre global distribution system (GDS) as one of its key platforms to shop, book and manage travel content from among 400 airlines, 900,000 hotel options and 40 car rental brands.
“Since its formation more than 30 years ago, Club Travel has been known for its customer service focus and its adoption of technology to enhance that ethos,” said Wally Gaynor, Club Travel managing director. “Today, we remain committed to providing the best prices, premium service and specialised travel industry expertise. We operate a multi-GDS environment with the right technology to suit each of our diverse divisions, which is a foundation of our success and we have found a strong, forward-thinking partner in Sabre. With a consumer-grade interface and sophisticated data and analytics capabilities, the new Sabre Red Workspace will help us serve our customers even better and more efficiently in the future.”
Expected to achieve record results in 2018, tourism presents a significant business opportunity in South Africa. The sector is expected to contribute 424.5 billion rand to the country’s overall economy this year – about 3 percent more than in 2017, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). A leading full-service company spanning a variety of segments – with 362 employees and a franchise division which includes 60 non-branded IATA agents and 290 independent consultants – Club Travel group is ideally placed to meet the increasingly complex needs of South Africa’s growing traveller base.
“Club Travel is a leader in the South African travel industry and ours is a natural partnership,” said Richard Addey, country director – South Africa, Sabre. “We share a common belief and vision that the right technology solutions coupled with scale and innovation will deliver the kind of shopping and retailing experiences that travellers want, while delivering the efficiency and speed that agents need. Since expanding our relationship, Club Travel agents are already seeing the promising results that we expect from our highly intuitive and ultra-fast desktop solution.”
###
About Club Travel
The cornerstone of Club Travel’s success is being true to our vision of offering customers the unique combination of best price, best service and long term relationships. Club Travel’s bulk buying power enables us to negotiate competitive airfares and preferential rates with airlines worldwide and other suppliers such as hotels, car hire and cruise companies, tour operators, travel insurance and foreign exchange providers, etc.
These competitive rates coupled with leading edge technology and specialised travel expertise is the strong foundation on which Club Travel continues to grow its national presence.
Club Travel is > 50% black owned being part of the Thebe Tourism Group (TTG), the first black empowerment group formed in South Africa. TTG was incorporated as a company in 2001 by Thebe Investment Corporation, to create a uniquely South African tourism group targeting selected tourism opportunities in Southern Africa.
About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation is the leading technology provider to the global travel industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than US$120 billion of global travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.
Media contact
Jess Matthias – jess.matthias@sabre.com
Luana Visagie – luana@clubtravel.co.za