Universal Tourism recently announced the launch of Musafir.com, a new travel website that will allow travelers from the UAE to search for flights to over 3,000 destinations around the world on all leading airlines and book them online in seconds.
Musafir means “traveler” in several regional languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Hindi and Urdu.
The venture was founded in August 2007 by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al Thani, Sachin Gadoya and Albert Dias, with the aim to make booking travel from the UAE just as easy as it has been in the rest of the world for a number of years now.
“We live by three promises to our travelers in everything we do”, said the founders, when asked about what makes Musafir.com different from other travel websites in the region, “great choice, no-nonsense convenience and a premium experience”. The company also offers a Travel Expert service for travelers who would like to customize their trips over the telephone and a Travel Smart guide with tips for travel enthusiasts.
Online travel bookings are expected to account for over 30 percent of the UAE’s outbound leisure travel market by 2012, with e-ticketing and the zero-commission model in particular being credited for the recent impetus.
Musafir plans to offer a number of new services in 2009, including hotel reservations and sightseeing tours, to meet the growing demand. The company is investing AED 3 million in the development of a proprietary trip planning solution over the next two years to make planning holidays from the UAE easier.
It's nice to have such a portal now, but I find it hard to believe that their tourism is very busy. Maybe Dubai could be a visited place, but only by rich people who can afford that. And let me tell you another thing: I, as a woman, would be afraid to go to a Muslim country, especially an Arabic one.
You are right about that Trisha. When you enter an Arabic country, you have to obey their law or else you will be prosecuted according to their law. Women do not have the same rights as men in an Arabic country and that is wise for the moment, to avoid them, unless you know somebody there that can guide you.