Dubai-based air services company Dnata has relaunched Yalago as a leisure bedbank.
First launched as a metasearch engine in 2011, the platform makes a return with Dnata recognising its ability to “garner distribution where Dnata doesn’t have businesses operating”, said Sébastien Doussin, managing director of Yalago.
Yalago will specialise in leisure travel, and service third party customers with accommodation supply.
“We will be focusing on quality rather than quantity, and one of our commitments is to retain a low hotel to contractor ratio – with our contractors based in-market – in order to continue to manage our contracts and relationships effectively. We have also invested significantly in a health and safety programme, partnering with an independent provider to continuously audit all of our hotel suppliers,” Doussin elaborated.
Dnata said in a statement that the bedbank is “different from the standard start-up”, with a room night production of over seven million a year already coming from Dnata’s in-house brands, giving it “significant volumes to deliver competitive rates and a flexible approach from day one”.
Yalago is well placed in the bedbank space, Dnata further stated, with its leisure focus in line with the tour operation heritage of the various brands that make up the Dnata Travel portfolio, namely Emirates Holidays, Travel 2, Gold Medal, Travel Republic and Travelbag.
