The Kanoo Group is one of the largest independent, family-owned groups of companies in the Gulf region. Established in Bahrain in 1890 by Haji Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo, it flourished during the 70’s oil boom from a trading and shipping business into one of the most diversified companies in the region, involved in travel, holidays, machinery, oil and gas, power and industrial projects, exhibition services, logistics, and other retail and commercial activities.
Kanoo Shipping Agencies recently launched a new branch office in the booming strategic Omani port of Sohar. The Kanoo Group – or, as the company website refers to it, ‘The Kanoo Legend’ – now has joint ventures with many international companies serving the service and industrial sectors, including Norwich Union Insurance, Maersk, BASF, Johnson Arabia, Akzo Noble and Freightworks.
The next 12 months should be particularly interesting for Kanoo Travel, which has revealed details of a new three-year strategy. The plan will see the established travel company enter new markets and introduce sophisticated automated technology across its operations.
The company currently operates 200 outlets in core markets such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Egypt, and last year signed a deal with American Express to acquire 12 of its foreign exchange outlets in Europe; 10 in the UK and two in France. It is rolling out additional service centres too: the company already operates one in Bahrain, but centres in Jeddah, Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, each manned by between 25 and 40 staff members, will be open by June next year.
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