A Travelport GDS executive said global air ticket bookings fell less than expected in June, an indication the decline in business has reached its lowest point. Compared with June last year bookings dropped 12%, but this is 4% less than forecast. Travelport Vice President for the Middle East and Africa said “Statistics for June, while still indicating a decline, started to show small signs of recovery and give cause to hope the bottom may possibly have been reached.”
Rabih Saab said that the rapid growth in tourism in the Middle East in previous years has certainly slowed because of the global recession “this region is still relatively strong compared to other parts of the world.” The global ticket bookings were derived from global distribution systems like Sabre, Amadeus, and Galileo.
