What is the one most important decision you have made to your business this year, in view of the competitive environment today?

Early this year we launched Abacus Ventures, a unit within the company that seeks to identify new commercial opportunities that complement Abacus’ core business model and innovation objectives. 

This is an exciting area for Abacus, and the idea is really to have a small team who is very fast and agile, and who can seek out key prospects in the travel marketplace. 

Abacus Ventures gives us a vehicle that can evaluate, sift through all the opportunities and then choose a few of the best ones to either invest in, partner or collaborate with, to grow more capabilities for Abacus and to share our distribution franchise. 

The company’s footprint in 31 markets has an immense coverage, so we can leverage that presence to bring new services and products to market. 

What is your goal for 2014?
Our goal and vision moving into 2014 is ultimately to continue playing a significant role in transforming the way people consume travel in Asia-Pacific. Abacus seeks to be the one-stop shop with the most – we want to provide extra value to the travel agencies and the end-consumers. Ideally, we’d love to double the size of the headline figures in five years’ time, as it did in the past five.  

What must travel experts do to be even more valuable to you?
Technology has opened up possibilities and it’s created a lot more flexibility for consumers, as well as for airlines and other travel service providers. While it is in a GDS’ self-interest to keep pace with these trends and capitalise on the opportunities, travel experts can also add value by providing more feedback and insights into the health of the travel agency community, so that we can identify and breach any technology gaps efficiently.

Credits to Mr Brett Henry, Vice President - Commercial, Abacus International