New Monthly Figures Show Robust Asia Travel Market In The First Half Of 2006 Says Abacus
Singapore, New monthly travel figures released by Abacus International today showed the Asia-Pacific travel industry maintained a steady pace in the first half of 2006. Total bookings on the Abacus system were up on 2005 for every month – except January and April - maintaining positive growth with accumulative free and independent traveller (FIT) bookings for 1H2006 up 4 per cent on the same period last year.
Singapore, New monthly travel figures released by Abacus International today showed the Asia-Pacific travel industry maintained a steady pace in the first half of 2006.
Total bookings on the Abacus system were up on 2005 for every month – except January and April - maintaining positive growth with accumulative free and independent traveller (FIT) bookings for 1H2006 up 4 per cent on the same period last year.
“The first half of 2006 has been a real test for the travel market and the continuing growth shows we have come through with flying colours,” said Don Birch, President and CEO of Abacus International. “The year has already shown that demand seems to be positively inelastic with sustained strong travel demand despite increasing fuel charges. Given maintained economic growth projections and the increases in aircraft and airline seat capacity, I am optimistic that travel will remain robust this year, with sustained growth across the region of 4-6 per cent for the year,” he said.
January total booking figures were down slightly at 3.5 million, reflecting the impact of Chinese New Year holidays in 2006 which were earlier than 2005.
FIT bookings in February saw the largest increase in the beginning of the year, with an increase of 25 per cent over bookings made in the same month the previous year. FIT bookings in February 2006 were up 11 per cent on 2004 and 39 per cent higher than 2003.
In April, bookings took a dip compared with the previous year, although bookings still remained above 2004 and 2003 numbers. This dip, regularly seen in the month of April, can be attributed to a number of factors including the return to the school term in many markets, the completion of financial years, and the fact that many travellers have already taken their holiday for the first quarter earlier during the Chinese New Year Period.
In some markets travel activity was relatively quiet during the football World Cup in the month of June, but picked up again in July with an 11 per cent increase in the FIT bookings for the month compared with the same period in 2005 and over 4.5 total million tickets booked on the Abacus system.
On a month-to-month basis Intra-Asia travel accounted for between 76 and 81 per cent of all bookings made on the Abacus system throughout the first half of the year. The increase in long-haul route travel in April and May can be attributed to the travel specials and repeated promotions by full-service airlines to European and the America’s destinations.
“As forecast at the beginning of the year, full service airlines are actively looking at new ways to encourage travel and provide good deals for their customers on both their long-haul and short-haul routes,” Mr Birch said. “And these incentives are paying off for some of the carriers, possibly easing the strain of higher fuel costs on the industry. Global events such as the World Cup give carriers and the travel industry a new way to reach out to their travellers with special deals and packages,” he said.
“However, even with such sturdy growth figures for the first half of the year, we can’t sit back and just enjoy the ride,” Mr Birch said. “While we know that travel is now a staple and no longer a luxury, the entire industry must continue to work together to ensure that all aspects of travel ensure that Asia-Pacific continues to be a destination of choice.” E-ticketing
With almost one in every two tickets in July being issued paperless, electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) continues to gain in popularity throughout Asia-Pacific. Overall for the first half of the year, one in every three tickets issued was an e-ticket, which is an increase of 80 per cent compared against the first half of 2005.
North Asia is leading the e-ticket adoption, with over 1.11 million e-tickets sold in Taiwan up to and including July this year, ahead of Hong Kong (935,000) and South Korea (753,000). In South Asia, the Philippines (647,000) has overtaken Singapore (638,000), with new e-ticket markets India and Pakistan quickly catching on to the convenience of paperless travel.
“If the travel industry in Asia is to meet IATA’s objective of being e-ticketable by next year, the industry needs to work together to fully educate consumers, travel agents and airlines on the benefits that e-tickets bring and the savings for the entire industry – which is predicted to be upwards of US$3 billion per year,” said Mr Birch.
Abacus International is owned by Sabre and a consortium of Asia's leading airlines including All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Dragonair, Philippine Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines, SilkAir and Singapore Airlines. Sabre is the US-based leader in the electronic distribution of travel and travel related services.
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