Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; October 20, 2019: Elaa, the travel management company of Seera, Saudi Arabia’s largest travel services provider, has sustained its market leadership in the Corporate & Government (C&G) travel sector of the Kingdom, clinching over 25 per cent market share and securing more than SAR 3 billion in annual gross revenue. Elaa has also built a growing portfolio of clients, now at over 300, representing leading business groups and government entities.
Seera’s travel management company was recently rebranded as Elaa, meaning ‘trusted advisor’ in Arabic, to underline the unique value proposition that it delivers to clients through bespoke service delivery. Elaa also offers dedicated cargo solutions, complementing the needs of the C&G sector, which also contributes to the sustained growth of the business division.
To further strengthen its operations, Elaa has launched Rehlati, an electronic travel order platform offering a state-of-the-art digital booking system for government entities. Since its soft launch in December 2018, Rehlati has won over several government entities as its clients, serving more than 300,000 employees, who benefit significantly through the platform.
Set to revolutionise C&G travel solutions, Rehlati brings together a team of local experts at Elaa and C&G travel advisors to simplify government travel arrangements. It will replace the time-consuming process of travel bookings for government entities and companies in Saudi Arabia, which is totally dependent on manual work, written sign off, and physical documentation.
Abdullah AlDawood, CEO of Seera Group, said: "We are a digital-first company, committed to enhancing the standards of customer service and to bring the latest technological know-how to the travel industry. As Saudi Arabia’s and the region’s leading corporate and government travel management provider, Elaa is continuously investing in advanced technology to seamlessly deliver the travel requirements of our clients. The successful launch of Rehlati is another value addition to our service portfolio, which will further drive our market leadership."
Rehlati enables total automation of approvals, travel policy enforcement, and real-time Travel Order status updates. Rehlati also enhances the employee experience through its transparent and trackable online system. Adding to ease of access, local data residency is stored and accessible in dashboards to facilitate effortless analysis of travel bookings. Any new rules or government regulations pertaining to travel can be easily incorporated in the system – together contributing to a more efficient, swift and seamless process.
Abdulrahman Mutrib, EVP Technology & CTO, added: "Our brand transformation to Elaa underlines our commitment to develop the C&G business that provides our customers with deep insights into their business travel throughout the journey. Rehlati as a solution provides decision makers with the right data to reduce business travel cost. It will immensely enhance the efficiency for our clients. For the first time ever in Saudi Arabia, government entities can do their travel bookings electronically and travellers can search, select, and book their preferred flights and hotels using Rehlati. We are the only C&G solution that offers bilingual (Arabic/English) services in the market across channels including web, mobile app, retail branches, and via a 24/7 Call Center. Our key proposition for C&G clients is cost optimization, transparency, and an enhanced business travel process."
Rehlati offers users customised dashboards and generates instant reports where required. With end-to-end data encryption, security is guaranteed. Several upcoming features are being integrated including white label solutions, the ability to book travel add-ons, employee private booking requests at preferential rates and tracking of travel expenses. Rehlati offers vast inventory of more than 600 airlines, 500,000 hotels around the globe & ground transportation. It comes with pre-packaged special deals on all major Middle East airlines and many worldwide hotels with the ability to customise special deals per client. It also enables organizations to customise and enforce travel policies across the journey.
In addition to Rehlati, Elaa’s market leadership is also highlighted by innovative features such as airline relations, cargo solutions, pop-up travel outlets, full travel itinerary planning and a dedicated account manager for each client ensuring personalised service at all times. Elaa also leverages the industry leadership of Seera’s consumer travel businesses – Almosafer and tajawal. The cargo service covers multimodal international freight, routing and transportation agreements, shipping solutions, customs clearance and door-to-door service.
Responsible for the group’s strategic planning for information technology and project management services, Abdulrahman Mutrib joined Seera in 2014 to oversee its technology functions. During his 28 years in the ICT sector, he has worked on many large-scale, billion-dollar projects in Telecommunications and Information Technology.
"Promoting travel and tourism as well as bringing digital solutions that make service delivery more seamless are among the top priorities of the Saudi leadership to drive the sustained growth of the economy. As an organisation with over 40 years of experience in Saudi Arabia, we are the forefront in helping realise the vision," he added.
Having built extensive partnerships with government entities, corporates and cargo companies, Elaa offers integrated solutions that assure exceptional efficiency and value. Meeting all the requirements of clients, Elaa offers advisory services including travel optimisation, performance monitoring and brings industry best practices.
Assuring the transition of customers from traditional to online travel management planning, Elaa’s distinctive strengths include its omnichannel travel solution with a dedicated travel portal, mobile app, 24×7 call centre, dedicated staff across branches in KSA, as well as agents in over 250 cities globally. In addition to the breadth of products offered, Elaa assures competitive rates to deliver tangible value for its clients.
