Al-Tayyar Travel Group announces strategic transformation plan
Al-Tayyar Travel Group, a leading global travel and tourism company, has announced that its board of directors has approved a strategic transformation plan that will take the company in a new, more focused direction to enhance longterm shareholder value.
The company’s operating environment is undergoing a significant shift, yet with the implementation of this transformation plan it will be able to reconfigure its business divisions, enabling it to expand into new profit pools and revitalize their returns.
Abdullah Aldawood, chief executive officer of Al-Tayyar Travel Group, said: “We look forward to turning a new chapter in our company’s history. As a leading travel and tourism company we are witnessing very exciting changes on two fronts: Firstly, the global travel industry is shifting and agencies are evolving from being airline ticket suppliers to holiday advisers and online booking service providers. Secondly, Saudi Arabia is undergoing an economic and social transformation, whereby the tourism sector is set to be a key beneficiary. Therefore, we are undergoing a strategic transformation which will allow the company to adjust to the changes, capitalize on emerging opportunities and expand into other growth markets.”
The company will now be organized around four main areas: Travel, Hospitality, Supporting Business and Investments. Travel and Hospitality will undergo significant changes with the aim of driving operational efficiency, promoting customer value and focusing on high-growth areas. Supporting Business will be repositioned to supplement the company’s profitability, and Investments will help enhance the shareholders’ equity value.
Travel Services and Online Travel Agency (OTA) will be the principal growth engines of Travel. The Travel Services unit aims to better serve three customer groups: Leisure, government and corporate, and Hajj and Umrah. For leisure tourists, the company will adopt an omnichannel strategy that serves to reorient its sales approach from a transactional agency to a travel and holiday advisory. To complement this new approach, in 2018 the company will roll out a series of revamped retail outlets, from flagship travel shops to kiosks in shopping centers.
Aldawood said: “We are very proud of the massive growth the online booking business has amassed in under two years. This is a great testament of our ability to expand into a booming market by building strong brands — Almosafer and Tajawal — to help us grow our market share in the OTA space and to cement our position as the leader in travel and tourism in the region. The outlook for the OTA business is very bright, so this is where the company will be significantly allocating resources.”