The give and tech model
Jeet Sawhney, MD, Abacus India, talks about their plans to double their market share in India by 2016 and how they help agents to scale their business, while reducing costs.
Abacus is now diversifying its portfolio into the business of providing IT solutions for the airline industry in a big way. Can you comment on that?
Abacus makes it possible for airlines to market their ancillary products through the trade channel, with travel agents actively upselling a basic seat with the products and services most suited to their customers.
Our strategy aims to deliver world- class technology to India’s major and nascent travel brands and to develop the second-tier agencies so that they also mature and thrive
Jeet Sawhney MD Abacus India
The airlines, the low cost ones in particular, then see from the resulting bookings which are the most popular promotions, bundles or fare families.
What do you think is the reason for airlines fast turning their websites into a one-stop shop for all travel requirements?
Airlines want to offer a good service to their cus- tomers and so their websites have to deliver a positive experience. They are meeting a widespread expectation that all the information and related products travellers might want will be accessible from the home page. It’s very important for travellers, when shopping online or offline, to have quality content available to them.
What do you think is the future of GDS now with airlines themselves becoming very active online?
Airlines need to compete in the wider market, with neutral distribution platforms that enable them to present targeted propositions to travel professionals and travellers in every sector. That is the role of the GDS and the B2B channel. Abacus is active in all 31 markets in Asia Pacific, with our technology used at over 20,000 travel agent locations.
How big a role does Abacus play for the agents?
Agents choose Abacus to create a better experience for their customers and realise the operational efficiencies from deploying the technology. Abacus solutions help them scale their businesses, while reducing costs. Across all 31 markets in Asia Pacific, Abacus processes over 30 million daily availability searches for flights and hotels alone.
What are your plans for Abacus India?
Our strategy aims to deliver world- class technology to India’s major and nascent travel brands and to develop the second-tier agencies so that they also mature and thrive. The plans we have will see our market share in India double by 2016. Professional consulting services, available locally, are key to our expansion. We have just opened our 12th office in Lucknow to connect with local agents and wholesalers to look at how we can grow their businesses. It’s very important to share market and product knowledge in India and so we will continue to recruit talent from across the travel industry and build out.