Singapore, 11 June 2008 – Abacus International has cemented its place as Asia’s leading GDS by extending its network of national marketing companies to include the Maldives.

Kenneth Low, Abacus’ Vice President of South Asia Regional Operations, said Abacus Maldives has progressed well since the doors opened on March 1 and the opening came at an appropriate time as Abacus celebrates two decades of being Asia’s leading travel facilitator and a leader in the industry.

“Abacus was founded in Asia 20 years ago to benefit the entire industry here. We see founding Abacus Maldives as an important part of developing a strong and mature travel industry in the Maldives and across the entire region,” said Mr Low.

With a population of just about 300,000 and GDP growth of approximately 18.5% annually, the Maldives has seen strong growth in tourism. The outbound tourism numbers had grown 3.9% in 2006 over 2005 according to PATA, and IATA has forecasted the average passenger growth rate to be in the region of 4.4% for 2006 – 2010.    

Abacus Maldives opened for business in March with six partner travel agencies – Villa Travels, Cyprea Travels, Speed Travels, Sun Air Maldives Travels, Voyages Travels and the Grand Holidays – and has appointed Islanders Maldives Pvt. Ltd. as general sales agent.

Islanders Maldives is a Maldivian company with a strong presence in the tourism sector in the Republic.

Manager of Villa Travels, Ms. Shahuzan Abdulla, said the arrival of Abacus heralded great promise for the travel retail industry in the Maldives.

"Being a leading travel agency in Maldives we at Villa Travels welcome the entry of Abacus, a leading Global Distribution System, in the region as we believe that it would help the travel trade in Maldives to grow in strength and also to increase efficiency in our operations. We have a great hope that Abacus will ignite a flame under the travel agents in Maldives", she said.

Kenneth Low reported agents have been very receptive to Abacus’ commitment to its business in the Maldives with a physical presence in the Republic.

“We are able to provide support not just down the phone line, but face to face from people that know the local market and the people in the industry. This gives our partner agencies a physical connection to Abacus and our extensive network as well as a link to their colleagues all over Asia,” Mr Low said.
 

That sentiment was echoed by the Sales Manager at Speed Travels, Mr. Himmath A Hussain, who is also the Assistant Honorary Consular Correspondent of The Kingdom of Netherlands for Male. He believes that while Abacus is not the only GDS with a presence in the Maldives, having an on-the-ground presence gives the company an edge.

“Though Maldives is a compact market, Abacus has got an opportunity to secure more business in airline bookings and new avenues in the resorts bookings here in a huge way,” said Mr Hussain.

Abacus Maldives is supported by Abacus International Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the National Marketing Company for Abacus in Sri Lanka.