Symes focuses on products and productivity
Martin Symes, recently installed as vice president of marketing with Abacus International, is happy to be back at the heart of travel distribution.
Previously CEO and chairman of travel search engine Wego, and before that executive director, commercial for ZUJI, Symes says: "I see myself as a travel guy, rather than an online guy."
In his new role, Symes will seek "opportunities to drive change in the way travel is distributed".
Among those opportunities will be work to expand the range of content available for travel agents, which Symes believes is a critical issue if agents are to remain relevant as an unbiased source of advice and distribution of multiple products to comparison shoppers.
"Our GDS business has been predominantly focused on air, but there is a lot more we can do to expand content for agents."
Symes also believes there is ample room for increased productivity by agents, particularly in Asia where cheaper labour costs have tended to obscure the need for more cost-efficient operations.
"New cost pressures on travel agents are creating more demand for productivity tools and old arguments about cheap labour are less and less true," he said.
"Although this may be the less glamorous side of the business, it’s imperative that we provide agents with the tools to improve their productivity."
Abacus is also closely watching progress of the IATA-driven New Distribution Capability (NDC), a new communication standard between airlines and travel agents.
IATA this week launched an NDC blog, which it hopes will counter "considerable misinformation from some entrenched interests in current distribution standards" and will be a reference point "to correct the numerous myths and misinformation that have been introduced into the debate".
Symes says NDC has the potential to disrupt the way travel is distributed and needs to be "closely watched".
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025