Abacus International, Asia Pacific’s leading travel facilitator, was accorded the ‘Best E-commerce and New Technology’ award at TravelWeekly China Industry Awards 2008.

Abacus International Vice-President Agency Marketing Brett Henry said it was gratifying to receive the award for the China market as it adds to the Asia award that Abacus won earlier in the year.

“Technology and e-commerce have come to occupy a central role in business operations and Abacus has strived to be a pioneer in developing and expanding online business for the travel industry. Over the past year, our marketing and technology team has invested a lot of time in researching and designing travel products and services using the latest technology available.”

In the past 12 months, Abacus has launched numerous firsts in travel distribution in the new technology and e-commerce space. This includes the launch of online solutions, Abacus WebCreate and Abacus WebStart as well as Abacus ClientBase, an easy to use CRM solution that helps travel agencies develop closer relationships with their customers.

Abacus PowerSuite and Abacus PowerConnect, the two mid-back office solutions that help to automate the entire range of travel agency operations – from sales and invoicing to accounts reconciliation, were also well received by travel agents in the market.

As China’s travel industry grows with the increase in discretionary income from its burgeoning middle income group, it has become one of the key markets for Abacus over the last five years.

Abacus China’s General Manager Jack Zhai said, “China’s travel market is very dynamic and growing at an exponential rate whether in terms of suppliers or travellers. It is exciting for us to play a key role in the evolving travel industry here.”

“This award is a great encouragement for us to keep delivering innovation specifically for the travel distribution market here and we thank our customers, key industry partners and readers at TravelWeekly China for their great show of support.”

The TravelWeekly (China) Travel Industry Awards is an opportunity for the Asia Pacific travel industry to recognise its peers for their outstanding achievements and contributions to tourism. The awards were presented at a gala cocktail event at Le Royal Meridien Shanghai last night.