Signs of the times: Corporate travel agents become value champs

SINGAPORE – After years of unprecedented growth, economies in Asia are slowing and the region’s corporate travel agents now have to evolve the way they do business as companies look to trim travel costs, according to Abacus International.

Abacus president and CEO, Robert Bailey, said, however, Asia’s corporate travel agents and travel management companies (TMCs) have capitalised on the previous strong growth in the region and the sector is robust enough to weather the current downturn.

“TMCs and corporate agents have not only made it easier for companies to arrange travel, but have streamlined the process. They have helped cut costs by securing the best available fares, and have used their scale to negotiate better deals. They also provide first-class reporting systems to their clients. These services are even more valuable now than they were a year ago,” he said.

Kenneth Low, Abacus’ VP for Global Accounts, said, “For TMCs the imperative is the same as their clients. They need to analyse their fee models, reduce costs and bargain aggressively for the best deals and our Abacus-connected agents have told us they are investing more in technological solutions to get them there.”

A solution such as Abacus PowerSuite automates a large number of day-to-day operations in an agency, freeing up staff to focus on client servicing as well as creating very detailed and accurate reporting for clients.

“Investing in technology solutions provides agencies the ability to streamline operations and improve client servicing as well as auditing and reporting, will be a major factor in separating the agencies that will simply survive the current squeeze from the agencies that will flourish in it,” Low said.