Asia leads the recovery in travel sector
Abacus chief executive Robert Bailey has forecast a strong and sustained recovery for the travel sector at the opening of the Abacus International conference in Ho Chi Minh City today.
Bailey said the outlook for travel agents, hotels and airlines was growing stronger by the day.
Bailey said there were good reasons for the optimism and confidence among Asian travel agents revealed in the latest Abacus Asia Travel Sentiment Survey.
More than 60 percent of travel agents who responded to the survey anticipate a positive outlook for the next six months.
“Abacus has experienced 11 percent year-on-year growth in total booking volumes to August. Of this, the number of travellers has grown by 15 percent and this trend is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2011.â€
Bailey said this was a better-than-expected result from an earlier growth forecast of 3-5 percent.
“Bookings are bouncing back, and this is not just a bounce back from a low base. There are more robust foundations for growth in Asia than in other regions.â€
For the travellers, the news is less rosy with Bailey predicting air fares will rise and hotel rates will lift on the back of strengthening positive travel sentiment
Ian Jarrett
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