The growth in the travel industry and mobile use in the Philippines has created opportunities for travel agents in the country to capitalise on this growth and differentiate themselves from the competition.

Travel and tourism in the Philippines are expected to record continuous positive growth rates of inbound arrivals, and domestic passenger numbers are expected to grow by 10 per cent this year, making it one of the few countries achieving double digit growth^[1].

Abacus booking figures support this growth trend, especially in terms of domestic passenger numbers.

Domestic bookings demonstrated a 12 per cent growth for May 2012 (year-to-date) over the previous year.Mobile use in the Philippines is also rising rapidly as fewer people are utilising landlines as a main form of communication^[2].

The number of mobile subscribers is expected to reach 117 million by end 2016, and is expected to surpass the 100 per cent mobile penetration rate by the end of 2012^[3].

This increase has fuelled the increase in the number of mobile Internet users, with 35 per cent of Filipino Internet users using their mobile device to access the Internet, placing the Philippines as the third highest in South East Asia for mobile Internet usage^[4].

The rapid rise of mobile here has had a positive impact for the increasingly competitive travel industry.

"The availability and use of mobile devices has not only improved productivity but also increased customers' expectations on turnaround times for their enquiry. As such, travel agents need to be equipped with the appropriate technology to ensure that they can provide the best customer service even when they are on the go," said Mr Brett Henry, Vice-President, Commercial and Marketing of Abacus International.

An example of some tools that travel agents can utilise in the fast-changing travel landscape to stay on pace with technological evolution, particularly in the mobile space, is the Abacus Mobility suite."The growth in mobile and Internet technology has resulted in consumers relying on their mobile devices heavily, and this is even more evident when they are travelling. It is important for travel agents to adapt to this change in behaviour to be able to manage the multiple demands from customers even while out of the office," said Mr Gerry Samuels, CEO of Mobile Technologies Ltd.

"The ability to continue to provide the level of service expected by customers anytime, anywhere, creates a huge opportunity for travel agents to differentiate themselves from the competition. Travel agents need to be equipped with the best mobile solutions to be able to do this effectively.

"The Abacus Mobility suite is a series of mobile solutions developed to cater to the rising demand from travel businesses to enhance the customer experience. Abacus has been on the cutting edge of mobile, leveraging the latest functionalities of HTML5, providing greater mobile accessibility and increasing productivity for greater revenue optimisation. Abacus VirtuallyThere and Abacus WebStart are just two solutions within the Abacus mobility suite that have helped to pioneer the usage of HTML5 technology for easy access across numerous platforms for travel companies and travellers.

Productivity is another key factor for Filipino travel agents in this period of growth, especially with the increased number of agencies rising up to fuel greater competition. Travel agencies often bear a critical financial impact on a day-to-day basis, and agencies strive to survive the erratic movement of the domestic and international economies as well as their effect on both business and leisure travel.

"Abacus recognises that the demand from customers for travel information and bookings has changed immensely and it is now more difficult to compete in an increasingly cluttered market. Solutions like Abacus WorkSpace equip agents with the tools to allow them to lead in the marketplace through content integration, graphical capabilities and speed," Mr Henry said.

Abacus WorkSpace is a high-performing point-of-sale platform that meets the content aggregation and customer management needs of travel agents. It allows agents to increase productivity by reducing keystrokes up to 40 per cent and reduces training time by 50 per cent time through its fully graphical agency sales tool."Abacus strives to help our customers in the Philippines remain on the pulse of new market developments and technologies and provide them with an edge in the industry," added Mr Henry.

"We believe that through our range of solutions in the Abacus Mobililty suite and Abacus WorkSpace, travel agents will be able to meet the needs of their customers in this changing landscape more effectively and efficiently."

[1] IATA, 2011
[2] Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), 2012
[3] Business Monitor International, 2012
[4] Effective Measure, 2011