Travelport has announced the appointment of Bruce Hanna as country manager for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Hanna – based in Jeddah – takes over from Ghulam Al Balooshi, who has been acting as interim general manager of Travelport in the Kingdom since September 2012. 

Following the transition, Al Balooshi has returned to Travelport’s Dubai office to focus on his permanent role as country manager for the United Arab Emirates and the Lower Gulf region.

A seasoned GDS veteran, Hanna has more than 20 years’ experience with Travelport. 

He joined the Saudi Arabia team from Johannesburg, where he was vice president, commercial for Travelport Southern Africa. 

Prior to that, Hanna’s career at Travelport has seen him in roles of director for market support in Africa, as well as president and chief executive for Galileo India.

In his new role, Hanna is responsible for all Galileo-related commercial activity in the Kingdom, which includes managing existing customer relationships as well as identifying new business opportunities.

“Saudi Arabia remains one of the largest and fastest growing travel industries in the Middle East, and as such is a key priority region for Travelport,” said Hanna.

“I look forward to building on Travelport’s success in this important region through the introduction of new products, excellent customer service and focus on new technologies including online and mobile.

“Our customers and the travel industry have a lot to look forward to from Travelport in 2014.”