1. Client : PayPal Country : Singapore
Publication : E-Travel Blackboard Asia
Date : 12 October 2012
Topic : Abacus Integrates with PayPal making Online Travel Transactions easier for
Travel Agencies and Consumers
URL : http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article/86976/abacus-integrates-with-
paypal-making-online-travel-transactions-easier-for-travel-agencies-and-
consumers
Visitorship : 5,397 (Site-wide)
Abacus Integrates with PayPal making Online Travel Transactions easier for Travel Agencies and
Consumers
Friday, 12 October 2012
Abacus International, Asia Pacific’s leading provider of travel solutions and services, today
announced a new collaboration with PayPal, a world leading online payment provider, to equip
travel companies with the solutions needed to stay ahead in the fast-changing online travel industry.
Abacus will integrate PayPal as a payment option in their ready-to-go online booking engines,
Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebConnect. These integrated solutions will enable more than 20,000
travel agencies located across Asia Pacific to have an online presence and transaction capability in
one easy step.
The online travel market in the Asia Pacific is projected to see double-digit growth through 2012,
remaining the fastest-growing travel region globally through 2013, when it is expected to reach
US$357 billion*. According to the recent PayPal Online and Mobile Shopping Insights study, travel
was the number one category for online purchases accounting for S$263 million in Singapore**.

2. Abacus WebStart is a full-featured, ready-to-go online booking engine specifically built for travel
agencies to get their brand online quickly, at near zero cost. Abacus WebConnect is a tool kit that
enables travel suppliers to build and deliver a robust booking engine that lets their customers shop
and book their travel online anytime, anywhere. PayPal’s integration with these online solutions
provides travel companies the ability to make travel transactions from day one, especially to the
large pool of existing PayPal customers, encompassing more than 113 million active users across 190
markets globally.
Robert Bailey, President and CEO of Abacus International said, “Consumers today are making more
travel bookings online and travel agencies want to gain a competitive advantage in addressing this
trend. By integrating PayPal into Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebConnect, travel agencies can now
look forward to an effective platform to start an online business with the added benefit of being
transaction-ready. In addition, a strong global brand like PayPal is a real boon to travel agencies as it
instills a certain level of confidence and trust to global travellers who may be initially wary of
purchasing travel packages or flight tickets from unknown travel agency websites."
"With e-commerce and the online travel market growing rapidly in Asia, PayPal is committed to
enabling easier, more flexible and more secure payments to help travel agencies expand their
business online and be paid for travel bookings by millions of consumers worldwide. By working with
Abacus, travel agencies will be able to boost their online sales by offering a simpler, more
convenient shopping experience to book and pay for their online travel,” said Faraz Ahmed, Head
PayPal Southeast Asia and India.
Singapore travel agency, Maple Travel was the first to innovatively use Abacus WebStart and PayPal
in July to enable direct bookings for TransAsia Airways flight tickets via Facebook. This functionality
allows Facebook users in Singapore to book and pay for their flights to Taiwan on TransAsia Airways
through a “book on Facebook” tab within Facebook on TransAsia Airways’ Singapore fan page,
removing the need to navigate to TransAsia Airways’ website.
Tan Meng Aun, Director, Maple Travel Pte Ltd said, “Facebook was the first of several new and
unique channels that we have earmarked as high-potential growth segments for the regional travel
industry. Having successfully leveraged on the technologically advanced Abacus WebStart engine
and its seamless integration with PayPal’s online payment solution, Maple Travel is now laying the
groundwork to pave the way for future up-and-coming online travel innovations.”
* PhoCusWright’s Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition
**PayPal Online and Mobile Shopping Insights survey in 2012