MANAMA: Gulf Air has showcased its leadership in Internet marketing at a top exhibition in the UK.

The 'Internet World', Europe's longest running event for digital marketing and online business, was held in London.

A case study was presented, illustrating how traffic to www.gulfair.com has significantly increased and sales have thrived due to innovative methods in the field of Internet marketing, namely pay per click (PPC), advertising in search engines (like Google), search engine optimisation and the pioneering work on social networks like the Gulf Air fan page on Facebook

Gulf Air has achieved an increase in online sales of more than 300 per cent last year despite a negative trend across the industry.

This year's sales are following the same, steep trend, especially from Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE.

This is also due to some of the airline's most successful initiatives, including the weekly World Wide Web Offers and the 'Best Fares Guaranteed' promise.

Gulf Air has recently complemented their web offer of flights and hotels with a new car hire service.

"We have invested extensively in its online sales capabilities, continually improving and expanding the service we offer our customers," Gulf Air's head of e-Commerce Nicola Simionato said.

"Our efforts are certainly reaping dividends with online sales rocketing, resulting in substantial savings for the airline.

"Being showcased at IT World is a huge boost and reinforces our place as one of the leading companies in the Middle East in the field of internet marketing," he said.