New online travel portal launched in Oman

Muscat: SkySouq.com, the first of its kind online travel portal headquartered in Muscat was launched on Monday by Ms. Amal Suhail Bahwan, Managing Director and Board Member of Suhail Bahwan Group and senior government officials. Ms. Bahwan unveiled the new travel portal’s logo and made the first online booking.
The new online travel platform SkySouq.com offers potential travelers a wide range of travel products such as flights, hotels, holiday packages and other travel services with the flexibility to pick and choose their travel plans according to their preferences and budget from over a million inventories.
Ms. Bahwan said, “In today’s technology-driven marketplace, increasing number of people, particularly the younger generation, are shifting from the traditional brick-and-mortar travel agencies to online shopping as they can get plenty of travel options, value- for-money packages and choose what they want, when they want it with minimal manual interference. Skysouq.com serves exactly that purpose.”
She added, “Skysouq.com is mindful of the government’s efforts to promote Oman as a loved tourism destination; with this intent we are aggressively promoting the “Visit Oman” brand on our website which offers a range of local tour itineraries, sightseeing and other activities.” What makes Skysouq.com unique is that it is the first bi-lingual portal in Oman giving our valuable Omani travelers the choice to browse in Arabic or English and purchase their travel products round the clock.”
Gururaj S.A., General Manager at Suhail Bahwan Group, said that SkySouq was established to meet the needs of the tech-savvy generation in Oman. “Travel is the third largest product bought online,” he said. He added that mobile use of internet is high in Oman. “E-commerce is going a long way in this market and this is the right thing for us to target,” he said.
Mr. Gururaj said that SkySouq is aiming to promote Oman as a destination as well as promote local entrepreneurship. “We are not only promoting Oman, but as a marketplace [souq] we will get products from every capable Omani possible. If they have a product and want to launch it to a global audience, SkySouq is the place,” he said. Products may include serviced apartments, guiding packages, city tours, sea diving and others.
He said that SkySouq will partner with tourism colleges in Oman to encourage students to create new products and sell them through SkySouq.
Daniel Naoumovitch, CEO of Sabre Travel Network Middle East, which provided the technical backend support to SkySouq.com said that online travel agencies will not take over their offline counterparts.
Naoumovitch said that online technologies will enhance the capabilities of offline travel agencies to keep up with today’s development of technology.
“The sky is the limit in the Middle East with online and it can only enhance the capabilities of the offline travel agent,” he said. He added that the role of the traditional travel agent will not disappear, but that it will have to adapt to the technology.
“An offline travel agency that does not have online as part of its strategy today, will miss out. It is time for the local travel agencies, if they haven’t already, to consider going into the online arena,” he said.
“We are delighted to be part of the launch of SkySOUQ.com, and congratulate them for embracing technology to serve the tech-savvy travellers of today’s world and for launching the first online travel platform in Oman,” Naoumovitch said.
SkySOUQ.com will provide travelers with an easy and more individual shopping experience. Our expertise in the online space provides a robust, flexible platform so travel suppliers and buyers can personalize the travel shopping experience, drive greater loyalty and business results.”
9 out of 10 of the top global Online Travel Agencies OTA’s in the world partner with Sabre. Sabre has the expertise, tools and the right team to support SkySOUQ.com and offer a whole range of options that transforms the travel experience.