Northstar

The Indispensable Travel Industry Read Feature Hightlight Travel surges ahead Vol. 1 | 19 October 2010 | www.travelweeklyweb.com | Published by Travel & Meetings Group, Ten Alps Communications Asia Pte Ltd Abacus: Travellers get smarter News UNWTO advances partnership approach for monitoring sustainability Hotel Page 6 Abacus International President and CEO Robert Bailey presenting a gift to Mdm Hong, vice chairman, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Abacus held their 7th Abacus International Conference 2010 in Ho Chi Minh from 13 – 15 October. About 500 travel agents from Asia- Pacific gathered to hear experts give their views on the travel landscape for 2010 and beyond. Abacus International President and CEO, Robert Bailey said that the Abacus International Survey reveals a 'promising' outlook for the travel industry in Asia. "Abacus has experienced 11 percent year on year growth in total booking volumes to August. Of this, the number of travellers has grown by 15 percent and this trend is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2011," he said. Bailey further commented that travel trends in 2011 that we will see are continued growth throughout Asia primarily in air travel and the year-on-year growth rates will come down on 2011 primarily because 2010 has been a strong year. "I think the bounce back from economies and pent up travel will have evened out once we get into 2011. The challenges going ahead will be getting the skills and the people employed in the travel agencies trained on the emerging technologies that are coming up. Getting qualified and able staff to manage the growth of the business that's one challenge. " He added that retaining and motivating them is another one. The rapidly growing social media, internet and mobile space is going to be a challenge for travel agents to see how they can participate in that space and how they may position themselves. As for the rising costs of travel Bailey thinks it won't dampen travel as it will give travel agencies the opportunity to add value to their corporate clients by managing the travel spend and enforce corporate travel compliance. On the retail side, natural competition between providers will moderate pricing. "Al though revenues have returned, budgets remain tight, corporate travellers stay cautious with their travel expenditure and leisure travellers continue to hunt around for the best bargains, " he said. New Centara Resort opens at Phuket's Karon Beach Page 6 Bailey added that the better than expected upswing in travel traffic comes in a new travel landscape, with travellers who have emerged from the economic recession, setting a 'new norm' in travel expectations. These same travellers are much savvier nowadays, according to 62.5 percent of survey respondents, making it a priority for agencies to address key challenges and appropriate budgets in core customer focus areas. "The travel business has always Delegates from Kazakhstan at the all welcome dinner. been about the consumer. The new consumer mindset that has risen from the economic downturn has made this point even more pertinent. This new mindset where sustainability, quality and value lead the way means that consumers are spending more time to research for better deals and bargain before parting with their money," Bailey said. "This also means that consumers are more knowledgeable and savvy and would expect the travel agents to be even more so to be able to help the consumers have a superior travel experience," he added.

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