US travel industry transaction technology provider Travelport plans to launch a commercial presence in Kenya amid strong economic growth in that country.

In a statement, the company says it is operating in 47 countries across the continent with more offices planned.

And the firm says East Africa is a key strategic investment area for it, especially as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Kenya is forecast to top 5.5% in 2013 according to African Economic Outlook.

The likes of Kenya Airways has already, since 1997, been using Galileo: a Travelport global distribution system (GDS).

However, Travelport says that with its Kenyan operation it plans to introduce customer support services and deploy more products in the coming months.

“The Kenyan travel industry is growing at a pace and we feel that the interests of the
travel agents in this region would now be better served by a wholly-owned and focussed
Travelport operation,” commented Mark Meehan, managing director, Travelport Africa.

Travelport has appointed Rajab Itambo as general manager for Kenya. In addition, he will have responsibility for Travelport’s business in Tanzania, says the company.

Itambo began his travel industry career with Galileo in Kenya having joined Kenya Airways in 1998. He later joined Travelport in 2008, says a statement.

Over the past year, Travelport has been steadily growing its presence in Africa with the
acquisition of its Galileo operation in Southern Africa last May and the entry into 10 new
African countries over the past twelve months.

As well as investing in an expanded African network, Travelport says it has also deployed new travel agency solutions across the continent, including mobile offerings, such as Travelport Mobile Agent, and point of sale technology, such as Travelport Smartpoint.

It has further secured ‘numerous’ full content agreements with many of Africa’s fast-growing airlines and tripled the hotel content available in its system.

“Africa, and particularly East Africa, is predicted to continue growing considerably over the coming months and years, and we firmly believe that by building a more substantial, wholly-owned operation in Kenya, we will be well placed to provide enhanced customer
service and grow our business in this important region,” added Meehan.