Face-to-Face: David Wu, Chairman, Abacus Taiwan
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
1) How extensive is the take-up of travel technology in Taiwan, and how well received have Abacus’ solutions been in this market?
The Taiwan travel community is very receptive to adopting the latest technology. For example, over 70% of the travel agencies in Taiwan automate their mid- and back-office operations using up-to-date technology. Abacus is the leading travel facilitator in Taiwan and we constantly enhance and adapt solutions to meet the local market business requirements.
One of our solutions that is particularly well-received by the market is Abacus FareX – an electronic fares distribution solution that offers competitive fare content. This is very important to the travel agency business as it offers an effective means for airlines to distribute their fares to travel agents
2) What challenges does Abacus face in Taiwan that are specific to this market?
The opening of cross-straits flights is both a challenge and an opportunity for us. Whilst the number of segments booked has reduced, this presents a good opportunity to the travel industry given that the removal of any market barriers leads to a more sustainable long term trade. This should bring about cost efficiencies as the number of flights via Hong Kong will be reduced and a new business avenue opens up for travel players to create specialised products and services that meet the needs of the different customer segments within this route.
3) Which are the key growth segments or areas in your market?
The online segment has been enjoying positive growth in Taiwan. We are honoured to have over 90% of the online bookings in Taiwan and have been enjoying good relationships with our online partners such as EZ Travel, Lion Travel, South East Travel and Star Travel. We have developed a suite of solutions for online travel agents who are at the various stages of the online life-cycle. The Abacus e-Business Constellatin Suite comprises of Abacus WebConnect, Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebCreate solutions to help these agencies take their online business to the next level.
4) What do you think the travel agent can do further to sustain and grow in the current economic climate?
There are definitely new opportunities and business avenues that can be tapped in the current economic climate. Right now is actually one of the best times to adopt technologies and try out new ideas so that the agency is in a better position to take advantage of market opportunities when the economy turns around. We encourage our business partners to go online for more effective use of resources and for better distribution of their services, and also represents an opportunity to reach out to a new customer segment. The other area that the travel agent can tap on is the growing inbound and outbound China market sector.
5) What developments are we likely to see from Abacus in Taiwan in the next 12 months?
We will be focusing on helping our customers improve and enhance their business operations using state-of-the-art solutions from Abacus. We are also looking into mid- and back-office operations as well as enhancing web-based point of sale solutions. Another aspect that we will be focusing on is helping our travel agencies to deliver the best customer service across all touch points by providing practical solutions that foster stronger relationships.
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