Sabre marks growth in Turkey with launch of Ankara office

ANKARA, Turkey – Jun 1, 2017 – Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), the leading technology provider for the travel and tourism industry, is celebrating the opening of a new office in Ankara, Turkey.  The regional office will support Sabre’s Travel Network business, a global travel marketplace processing more than $120 billion of travel transactions. The new Ankara office will provide dedicated local support to travel and tourism customers in and around the country’s capital city, and will be a vital hub for training agents to use the Sabre system.  To mark its significant new opening, Sabre hosted an evening of celebrations at the new office in Ankara city centre.  Professionals from the travel and tourism industry attended the event – including several of Turkey’s most prominent travel agencies, airlines and third party developers. “Turkey is an important strategic market for Sabre, and is one of our fastest-growing regions in EMEA,” said Dean Bibb, interim senior vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sabre.  “It’s a country with a young population that is increasingly aspiring to travel the world.  Since we opened our first Turkish office in Istanbul in 2014, the country’s travel industry has seen significant growth – particularly in domestic and outbound travel.  We’ve seen our bookings consistently increase in Turkey, so now is an ideal time to expand our presence in the market.” Travel accounted for around 12.5 percent* of Turkey’s GDP in 2016 – and the industry remains resilient, with outbound and domestic travel continuing to rise.  Recognising the significance of domestic travel in Turkey, Sabre has built several Red Apps that are specific to the local market. The Troya app, for example, is a unique piece of technology that enables exclusive access to Turkish Airlines’ domestic fares.  Its recently-developed Arkman app is also unique to customers in Turkey, enabling agents to check their customer’s credit limit and select the service fees that come from the Arkman Bilet back office system. This helps agencies to automate the process between ticketing and accounting departments. “Turkey relies hugely on both its domestic and international travel and tourism industries – and connecting travel suppliers and buyers via technology is becoming more important than ever,” said Altuğ Bekdemir, country director, Turkey.  “Although we have been in the Turkish market for less than three years, we are now a significant player in the industry and most of Turkey’s largest travel agencies are choosing to use Sabre.  Ankara is a market that holds a lot of potential for us and our customers so, to reflect this, we will now be providing dedicated additional support that will help our customers to grow and thrive.” Guests at the Ankara opening event enjoyed presentations from Sabre on the growth of travel in Turkey, as well as a ribbon and cake cutting ceremony.

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About Sabre Sabre 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.