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Abacus expects 3-5% bookings growth in first half

Asia’s largest GDS Abacus is predicting a 3-5% increase in bookings in the first half of the year, on the back of a better than expected 1% dip in overall 2009 bookings.

Corporate travel is expected to bounce back by a significant 10-15% in the first six months of the year, albeit from a very low base. “Asia became the largest travel market in the fourth quarter of 2009,” said Robert Bailey, Abacus CEO, noting that December bookings were above 2007 levels. Bailey added that the double-digit December surge was down to the Chinese New Year as well as an upturn in confidence.

Bailey stated that along with other key industry players, Abacus has seen earlier than expected recovery with uptick in bookings registered since October last year.

“In 2010, confidence is returning, without a doubt. Asia went into the recession quite early, suffered more than other regions, and as is often the case, is seeing a more rapid upturn.”

Looking back to the downturn, Bailey noted that emerging Asian markets fared better than developed markets. Bailey said that emerging markets will continue to drive travel bookings up with Indo-China and central Asia as key growth regions. Other markets to have done better than expected include Nepal, Bangladesh and South Korea.

These three regions, along with Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Pakistan, The Philippines and Vietnam are expected to see their growth spurts continue.

The 10-15% increase in corporate travel is expected to benefit more developed markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Despite the downturn, online travel grew by 15% last year. Abacus says that 71.3% of travel agents that do not have an online presence are planning to have one, with more than half expected to have a website within the next six months.

Almost 80% of travel agents surveyed by Abacus saw an improvement in their customers’ choice of class of air travel and frequency of business travel, while 67% have seen a return to pre-economic crisis mix of international and regional/domestic travel.

Bailey says that Abacus is doubling its investments in products and services across the region as the industry comes out of recession. The main development centres for Abacus are in China and India.