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Amadeus commissions major study into the potential for the Middle East to become the world's dominant travel hub

Social, economic and geo-political issues to be analysed
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 25, 2010: Amadeus , a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, today announced that it has commissioned a major new report into the potential for the Middle East to become the world's dominant travel hub.

The report will cover the GCC region and include assessments of the airline, travel agency and hotel sectors. It will include interviews with senior business figures as well as industry bodies and government officials. It has been commissioned by Amadeus from the consultancy companies Insights Management Consultancy and h2c Consulting and will be launched in Q2.

The report will make a major review of the current and future economic prospects for the region to position as a global hub. It will consider the infrastructure and technology requirements as well as the business social, cultural and environmental impacts. The role of government, regulators and industry bodies will also be examined. The importance of the GCC region for worldwide travel will be analysed, particularly in comparison with other emerging hubs such as those in Asia. The potential for growth will also be reviewed against the impact of the recent economic down turn.

"Asking the question about whether the Middle East can fulfill it's potential as the world's most important global hub is vital", comments Antoine Medawar, Vice President, Middle East & North of Africa (MENA), at Amadeus . "We have commissioned this report to help bring the issues and actions into focus. Across the region there are so many important players involved and many complexities to address we thought it was important to help draw all the threads together to enable a clear view to be obtained. It is also particularly timely to make this review now in light of the impact of the economic downturn. It will help us take a fresh look. We will be speaking to a wide range of business and government people, but also influencer groups like industry associations. Do please get in touch if you would like to make a contribution. "

Amadeus ' spread in the MENA region includes 12 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations (ACOs) servicing 15 countries. In the region, Amadeus is used by some 7,400 travel agency locations and is installed on 22,740 travel agency terminals.

Through a recent deal with the Arab Air Carriers Organisation ( AACO ), Amadeus entered into a 10-year exclusive distribution agreements with 13 leading airlines from the AACO . The 13 airlines - Air Algérie, Afriqiyah Airways, EgyptAir , Etihad Airways , Kuwait Airways , Libyan Airlines , Qatar Airways , Saudi Arabian Airlines , Sudan Airways, Syrian Arab Airlines , Tunisair Yemen Airways and Royal Air Maroc , account for 68 per cent of reservations made by travel agencies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

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About Amadeus
Amadeus is the chosen technology partner for providers, sellers, and buyers of travel. The company provides distribution, IT and point-of-sale solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in the fast changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies, ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators), travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and travellers).

In just a few years, Amadeus has become a leading airline IT provider offering a fast growing portfolio of unique new generation solutions shared by a community of over 200 airlines. The portfolio includes the Amadeus Altea Suite (new generation customer management solution), the Amadeus e-Commerce Suite and other added value solutions like Amadeus Revenue Integrity. Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations - data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 219 markets.

The company is majority owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs over 8,900 employees worldwide, representing 105 nationalities. More information about Amadeus is available at: http://www.amadeus.com

About Insights Management Consultancy LLC
Insights Management Consultancy LLC provide business consultancy, sales and marketing services for a wide spectrum of hospitality, leisure & service partners in the Gulf and Middle East regions. Their headquarters are in Abu Dhabi with a representative office in the UK and a key strategic alliance with h2c consulting GmbH. H2c focuses on interactive travel and hospitality marketing. With a team of experts, h2c stands for unbiased industry insight, innovation, specialized solutions and distribution profitability. H2c consulting is committed to improving its client's competitive positioning by aligning strategy, technology and processes for optimal performance. Based in Dusseldorf, Germany, h2c services clients throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Contact details
Priscilla Stanley
ASDA'A - BM
T: +971 4 3344550
e-mail : p.stanley@asdaa.com

Mona Faraj,
Insights Management Consultancy
T:+ 97124995602
mona@insightsmc.com

© Press Release 2010