Lebanon’s leading leisure travel and tourism retailer Wild Discovery, subsidiary of Johnny R. Saade Holdings, has effectively deployed Travelport’s Galileo Web Services (GWS) solution to launch today its online travel portal and booking platform www.mousetrotter.com.

With the launch of the Mousetrotter.com site, Wild Discovery is set to expand into the increasingly important online space, becoming one of the first travel agencies in Lebanon to offer online booking and ticketing services.  By deploying GWS, MouseTrotter.com is able offer the air and hotel content available through the Galileo global distribution system (GDS), as well as additional special promotions and fares.

Galileo Web Services provides a suite of pre-developed services that address the most commonly used travel processes on the web, such as planning trips, booking reservations, and viewing detailed itinerary details.  It also supports data transfer between the agency and the GDS, giving travel retailers the ability to power their own online travel booking platform.

“Thanks to Galileo Web Services, we are able to access Travelport’s extensive travel data quickly and cost effectively, making it the ultimate IT platform for our new online business,” said Marie Breiss, Organization Manager at Wild Discovery. “We are confident this portal will translate into additional sales opportunities as a channel that complements our retail branches and allows us to capture a new segment that prefers to book airline tickets and hotels without necessarily requiring the assistance of a travel consultant.”

Since being introduced last year in the Middle East, Galileo Web Services have helped several travel agencies in the region create a flexible and integrated online booking platform. Adapting to the changing landscape of the industry, Wild Discovery was one of the first travel providers to sign up for the application and, after nearly a year of customised development, the portal is now operational.

“Online travel is a fast growing segment, and Galileo Web Services is the perfect innovation to help travel agencies leverage this medium, whilst taking advantage of the extensive content available through our system,” said Rabih Saab, president and managing director, Middle East and Africa, Travelport. “We are proud to have been able to help Wild Discovery power this new venture and realise their ambitious online goals.”