Abacus and Sedunia extend partnership

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 April 2013: Abacus announced, Thursday, it has signed a six-year partnership with Sedunia Travel Services, Malaysia’s largest non-affiliated corporate travel agency.

The Sedunia-Abacus partnership will see Sedunia’s continued adoption of Abacus PowerSuite, a front-to-back financial solution that integrates the company’s information and processes, while managing operations.

To reduce travel risks, Sedunia is using Abacus TravelIntelligence to support its customers and monitor policy compliance. In addition, Sedunia is in the early phases of introducing Abacus Consulting Services to optimise its internal processes to increase business efficiency.

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Abacus signs Jetstar deals

SINGAPORE, 7 March 2013: Abacus International has signed global distribution agreements with Jetstar Group and Jetstar Japan adding to its growing list of low-cost airlines.

The new agreement will ensure that Abacus-connected agencies across Asia Pacific will have access to fare content of the Jetstar group of airlines.

It also indicates  that more low-cost airlines are tapping  travel agency pipelines to top up seat bookings, although the majority of seats continue to be sold directly to  consumers through airline websites.

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Google in hot water over ads

BANGKOK, 7 March 2013: Conservationists have urged Internet giant Google to remove thousands of advertisements promoting products made from endangered whales and elephants.

Campaign group The Environmental Investigation Agency said Tuesday that it had written to Google CEO, Larry Page last month appealing for the removal of more than 1,400 ads promoting whale products and 10,000 ads for elephant ivory products on its Japanese shopping site.

“Google has laudable policies that prohibit the promotion of endangered wildlife products including whale, dolphin and elephant ivory, but sadly these are not being enforced and that’s devastating for whales and elephants,” said EIA president Allan Thornton.

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Travelport names China MD

BEIJING, 6 February 2013: Travelport, a bookings service provider to the global travel industry, has named George Harb as its new managing director for China, responsible for the development of strategic business opportunities for Travelport.

The appointment takes immediate effect. Mr Harb has been working for Travelport for more than seven years. Prior to his new role as managing director of China, he served as marketing director, Asia Pacific, and was later promoted to commercial director, Asia in 2007, where he was responsible for the Travelport territories of Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, and more recently managing Travelport’s distributor relationships across the Asia Pacific region.

Over the past three years, he has been actively involved in supporting Travelport’s cooperation with Travelsky, including the recent partnership agreement relating to the distribution of hotel content.

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From Wego to Abacus

SINGAPORE, 6 February 2013: Abacus International, a leading Asia Pacific provider of travel solutions,  announced yesterday the appointment of Martin Symes as vice president marketing.

A well-known personality in the online travel booking sector, his latest challenge is to lead product and content marketing, corporate and marketing communications, research and training for the Singapore-based Abacus.

“Martin’s addition is an important contributing factor in creating a best-in-class marketing organisation to help reinforce Abacus’ leadership standing in the Asia Pacific region,” said Robert Bailey, president and CEO of Abacus International.

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More Wi-Fi hot spots

BANGKOK, 25 January 2013: Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has set a goal to install 300,000 free Wi-Fi service points nationwide by the second quarter of this year.

ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the government is pushing the Smart Thailand project to provide free access to the internet.

“Part of the move is to prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community, which will take effect at the end of December 2015.”

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Amadeus mobile travel manager

BANGKOK, 16 January 2013: Amadeus announced, Tuesday, the launch of Amadeus Travel Office Manager Mobile, an extension of the Amadeus Travel Office Manager mid-office system that provides travel consultants with access to selected functionalities on iOS platforms.

Amadeus Travel Office Manager Mobile is available to Amadeus Travel Office Manager customers as a free download. Amadeus Travel Office Manager customers can visit www.atom.amadeus.com and click on the ‘ATOM on Mobile’ link. The app will also be available in the Apple App Store for both iPhones and iPads. The app is available to Amadeus Travel Office Manager customers in Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mongolia and Singapore.

Amadeus Travel Office Manager is a web-based office management solution for travel agencies to improve their operational efficiency and provide better service to customers through the automation of documents and comprehensive reports.

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Travelport names new VP

LANGLEY, UK, 31 October 2012: Travelport has appointed seasoned travel and hospitality executive, Patrick Andres, as its new vice president and regional managing director for the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Andres will be a key member of Travelport’s senior management team and responsible for Travelport’s commercial operations in the Asia-Pacific region, which include driving revenue growth, attaining new business and identifying key strategic opportunities for the company.

Simon Nowroz, the incumbent in the role, has moved to the new role of group vice president, business development, looking after the strategic growth regions of Brazil, China, India and Japan.

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Travelport waves a flag at IATA

SYDNEY, 26 October 2012: Travelport has called on the IATA to ensure its new so-called Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative is fair and equally represents the needs of all participants in the end-to-end travel supply chain.

The global distribution system says it shares the concerns raised by trade bodies such as the American Society of Travel Agents, the Business Travel Coalition and the Guild of Business Travel Agents that have called for real collaboration across the value chain, including GDSs and the travel agency community.

Obviously concerned that global distributions systems could be overlooked in the discussions on NDC, Travelport in its comments says it welcomes open engagement with IATA claiming it has always maintained that standards are an important aspect of the technology landscape.

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Amadeus offers Jetstar fares

BANGKOK, 24 October 2012: Amadeus and newly launched Jetstar Japan (GK) announced a global distribution agreement, Monday that will provide travel agents with worldwide access to the new airline’s range of fares, domestic schedules and inventories.

The landmark agreement makes Amadeus the first global distribution system to offer Jetstar Japan’s content to travel agencies, worldwide, since the airline began domestic operations earlier this year.

Travel agencies will access fares through the Amadeus selling platform and this ensures consultants can tap the same content the airline provides to all other third party travel booking systems.

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