How one of the biggest consolidators in the Middle East made their growth goals a reality, with the help of Travelport+
A bit about Wonder Travel
As one of the largest travel consolidators in the Middle East, Wonder Travel has a big reputation to uphold. Founded in 1980, the company serves over 1.9 million customers each year — including IATA and non-IATA travel agencies, service offices, small corporates, OTAs, and freelancers. And after nearly 50 years in business, the wide range of customers with diverse travel needs is only increasing.
With a team of 400 experienced staff, Wonder Travel is known for offering competitive fares for huge airlines such as EgyptAir and Saudia Airlines, with exceptional service to every traveler. However, when they set their sights on expanding into new markets and offering even better content to its customers, it needed a modern retailing solution that was smarter, faster, and easy to implement. So how did they achieve their ambitious goals? To learn more, we spoke with Mohamed Zedan, Head of Online Content Sales at Wonder Travel.
The brave vision ahead
Being a key consolidator for so many travel agencies, Wonder Travel faced a big challenge: expanding and improving its content offering while maintaining top-tier service. Manual workflows were slowing things down — and for such a modern, customer-focused retailer, speed and efficiency are essential. They needed a smart, powerful, scalable technology partner to simplify operations, boost productivity, and drive revenue. Enter Travelport.
The relationship between Wonder Travel and Travelport has been perfect. With Travelport, it’s more than just handling cases and doing good deals — we feel a great, powerful partner supporting us, every step of the way
Mohamed Zedan | Head of Online Content Sales at Wonder Travel
As a consolidator managing content for so many agents — including content from multiple sources (with Travelport as their preferred partner), and direct airline connections — Wonder Travel required a single platform to streamline it all. More importantly, they needed a partner who could solve those complexities, and support their ambitions for growth, which included plans to expand into countries such as Saudi Arabia and beyond.
They found the solution they needed in Travelport+, which offered an API that could be quickly integrated with their own portal, along with easy access to rich multi-source content. Through Travelport+, Wonder Travel and its customers could access NDC content via Smartpoint Cloud, revitalizing the content choice for agents and travelers alike. What stood out as the best part of Travelport+ for the team was the simplicity.
“Travelport+ is very easy to use. Our agents really admire the system – especially Smartpoint”, adds Mohamed.
To further support their expansion goals, they joined Travelport’s new Consolidator Partner Program, which supports the growth of consolidators by matching them with the most relevant sub agents. This helped them in finding the right audience for their content offering, along with increasing visibility for their brand.
Making wonder a reality
Travelport’s expert support ensured the transition to Travelport+ was seamless, and Mohamed credits the Travelport team for making the process straightforward. Onboarding JSON API was smooth, and with easy training to get up to speed with new additions to Wonder Travel’s tech like Productivity Automator and NDC, these smart tools were mastered in no time. Backed by local support from the Travelport team, they could easily and quickly get every benefit from their newly added Travelport+ solutions.
Productivity Automator has been a game-changer for our team. Tasks are automated thanks to handy, smart rules — even when we’re offline, the system keeps working. It’s made our operations smoother and our travelers more informed.
Mohamed Zedan | Head Of Online Content Sales, Wonder Travel
Following the integration with our API, Wonder Travel and their customers could seamlessly access NDC and traditional results all in one workflow. A greater choice of rich content and branding from airlines, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Lufthansa, unlocked new avenues for revenue growth.
Travelport has helped us to transform NDC from a challenge into an opportunity, and this has really given us an edge as a consolidator in the market.
Mohamed Zedan | Head Of Online Content Sales, Wonder Travel
Another benefit of the Travelport+ API was that tasks such as ticket exchanges could now be automated, thanks to the enhanced exchange capability on Travelport+. With this workflow automation, agents could now save time and put the power back in traveler’s hands — meaning they could focus on their number one mission: giving customers access to the content they want and need.
When it came to expansion for Wonder Travel, networking opportunities and joining a global network were invaluable, says Mohamed. The local knowledge and leadership of Travelport teams, alongside the support of the Consolidator Partner Program, made it possible for them to enter new markets with confidence. And the collaborative nature of Travelport’s global network meant that agencies could work together smoothly. In Wonder Travel’s case, it united with fellow Travelport partner, Middle East and North Africa-based OTA Wingie Enuygun: to deliver flights for EgyptAir and Saudia Airlines. This new partnership had benefits for both sides, creating revenue growth for WT, while enabling Wingie to expand their flight offering.
A wonderful future
What does the future look like for Wonder Travel? With the support and partnership of Travelport, and now empowered with smart tech solutions that are fast and easy to use, they’re excited for what’s next. Travelport is proud to drive success for modern retailers like Wonder Travel, and their success shows what’s possible with Travelport+.
Whether you’re an agency or consolidator looking to streamline operations or a small, new business with big growth goals ahead, we have the modern retailing tools for you. Through our solutions, including JSON API, our easy-to-use point-of-sale Smartpoint, NDC, and the new Consolidator Partner Program, we amplify modern retailing — for everyone.
easier, faster, smarter