News

Tumodo & Tabby Drive Innovation In The UAE’s Travel Market

The collaboration signifies a significant step forward in digitizing MENA business travel, including the use of AI technologies.

Published

2 years ago

June 4, 2024

Nour Nasir

tumodo and tabby drive innovation in the uae's travel market

UAE business travel platform Tumodo is set to integrate its services with Tabby, a leading MENA shopping and financial services app, in a move that will further the digital transformation of the region’s travel market.

Tabby already helps millions of people in the MENA region stay in control of their finances. Now, with the integration of Tumodo’s platform, business travelers will gain improved control over their travel expenses, along with greater transparency and accountability.

“The collaboration with Tabby signifies a major step forward in our mission to digitize business travel in the UAE and GCC, including the use of AI technologies. Now, we can extend brands’ reach to a wider audience and lead to a sustainable future,” said Vladimir Kokorin, founder of Tumodo.

Tumodo’s MENA expansion also comes at a time where the company is doubling its efforts to promote sustainable travel. Tumodo is advising all customers and partners on how they can be more eco-friendly when it comes to travel, and how to minimize the ecological impact of business trips.

Also Read: Oracle Is Planning To Build Two New Cloud Regions In Morocco

By 2022, spending in the global business travel market had risen to $1.03 trillion. However, that figure is expected to surpass the pre-pandemic figure of $1.4 trillion sometime this year. Despite many companies continuing to prefer online meetings, the business travel market continues to grow rapidly and is expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2027.

The integration of Tumodo’s travel platform into Tabby’s service will surely enhance business efficiency and reinforce both companies’ commitments to sustainability. Meanwhile, the UAE will also benefit as it continues to grow into a leading business hub focused on sustainable practices.

News

Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

7 days ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

Also Read: Shokz OpenFit Pro Review: Open-Ear Audio Finally Grows Up

For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.