Abacus reports Long-Haul destinations Favoured in June 2005

Intra-Asia travel continued to rise for the third straight month, accounting for 82.6% of the bookings recorded on the Abacus system in June 2005, according to figures released by travel facilitator, Abacus International.

In June, total bookings on the Abacus system took a slight dip of 3% over the previous month but remained steady compared with the same period last year, at 2% more than June 2004. 

Long-haul destinations gained favour amongst Asian travellers this holiday season, with bookings to Europe, South Pacific and the United States in June increasing by 13%, 9% and 1% respectively over the previous month.

Abacus President and CEO Don Birch commented on the results, “Overall, we are continuing to see solid growth in Asia Pacific travel with bookings for the first half of 2005 posting a 3% increase over the corresponding period last year. The increase in long-haul destinations can be attributed to the June holiday season, which is traditionally the period when travellers tend to make longer trips.”

June FIT bookings posted a year-on-year growth of 4%.

E-ticketing

Electronic ticketing on Abuacus continued to gain in popularity with the first half of the year registering an 86% increase over the same period last year. E-ticketing for the month of June increased by 51% over June 2004, with the Philippines and Thailand recording the highest growth rates at 1,764% and 664% respectively.

See other recent news regarding: Abacus