In the spirit of friendly competition, over 100 travel agents from across the UAE celebrated a successful 2017 by coming together recently to show off their networking–and bowling–skills in a tournament hosted cooperatively by Turkish Airlines and Amadeus Gulf in Abu Dhabi.

The informal event sought to celebrate the achievements of the local travel community while fostering a sense of deeper cooperation in the year ahead. Some of the prizes up for grabs to participants included bundles of Business Class and Economy Class round-trip tickets to Europe and to Turkey.

“It is important to strengthen our relationships with travel partners for mutual growth, and during this past year the travel community has had every reason to celebrate their efforts in advancing the industry forward,” noted Hasan DEMIR, general manager of Turkish Airlines – Abu Dhabi.

“Shaping the future of travel is a journey we are all on and we are all invested in. Amadeus does this by connecting key players in the travel industry, and that mission is something we believe extends even beyond the workplace,” said Jauhar Abdul Gafoor – sales director Abu Dhabi and Al Ain at Amadeus Gulf.

Air travel demand in the Middle East is predicted to grow by 7 per cent in 2018, and regional carriers are anticipated to see net profits improve to $600 million in 2018, up from $300 million in 2017, according estimates by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) at the end of last year. The UAE is expected to be one of the best performers among Middle East and North African economies over the next five years with growth continuing to be driven by trade and tourism.