Abacus opens travel agency in Second Life
KOTA KINABALU – Abacus International unveiled a virtual travel agency prototype in Second Life today as it kicked off its sixth bi-annual international conference taking place in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, making it the first Asian travel enterprise to step foot in the virtual world.
President and CEO Don Birch (pictured), speaking to TravelMole Asia on-site, said the move to establish a presence in the fast-growing virtual world was as much symbolic as it was a self-learning process for the travel facilitator.
“We’ve been talking about changes in the distribution channel and how travel agents must explore, learn and adapt and we felt that Second Life was way out there and would enable us to tell the story well and, in the process, we are discovering things for ourselves,” he said.
The message Abacus wants to convey to the approximately 500-plus travel agents gathered for the three-day event is “don’t close any doors; if you don’t go out and explore, you will never learn or know”, he said.
Abacus worked with Safe2Travel, one of Singapore’s leading travel agencies, to develop the virtual travel agency. It provided the technology while Safe2Travel developed the services offering.
The project took several months in the making and it is understood the technology investment came up to under six figures. The virtual travel agency’s services offering is currently limited to promoting destination experiences – in other words, inspiration rather than transaction.
Birch said it was too early to say what it would evolve into. “We are discussing that jointly,” he said.
What he did divulge is that his avatar in Second Life is “Glorious Intent Zhoukovsky”.
He said, “I wanted a Chinese-type name like Beautiful Dawn or something and I felt that Russia was an important part of the world, hence the combination.”
He confessed though he has not spent a lot of time in the virtual world. “It takes a lot of time and getting used to.”
However, he believes virtual worlds such as Second Life are “here to stay for certain segments of the market”.
“It may not be a major part of our lives but it will play a part in the future. Technology is maturing and who knows what it will be like in five years time.
“So our message to agents is get out there and learn and try.”
Birch also reeled off a host of changes that would have a profound impact on the Asian travel landscape.
“Changing airline models including the emergence of long distance/low cost models and the growing markets of India and China, supported by a resurgent Vietnam, are driving unprecedented levels of investment in aircraft, airports, hotels and will require ever higher levels of professionalism from all who work in the travel and tourism industry.”
Yeoh Siew Hoon
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