Abacus trains Travel Agents of the Future

Eighteen graduates of an intensive travel agency training course organised by Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore and Abacus Travel Systems Pte Ltd, will take up positions at some of Singapore's top travel agencies on Tuesday.

The graduates of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Business and Accountancy, specialising in Tourism and Leisure Management, will be the first to receive job placements as part of the Tourism Industry Placement Scheme (TIPS). The latter is a new initiative by the polytechnic and Abacus Travel Systems.

"The scheme offers graduates an important stepping stone into the travel industry," said Mr Kenneth Tham, the Section Head of the TLM specialisation at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. "During the course, the students gained valuable hands-on experience, acquiring the technological skills needed to work in travel agencies. They will therefore be operationally ready on their first day of work," he added.

Mr Tham said the scheme was made possible by the support of Abacus Travel Systems, a leading supplier of travel agency solutions in Asia-Pacific. A key part of the course was learning to master the latest ticketing reservation systems such as the Abacus distribution system and travel technology solutions such as Abacus Whiz, Abacus PowerSuite and Abacus HotelSmart.

Mr Andrew Yip, General Manager, Abacus Travel Systems Pte Ltd, said the company was pleased to collaborate with Ngee Ann Polytechnic in training the travel agents of tomorrow.

"Travel agents play a vital role in connecting travellers with the best travel products at the best price. With an ever-increasing number of travel options available, their job is now more important than ever," said Mr Yip.

"Being a travel agent is more than just booking airfares for customers. Having been established as a leading presence in the Asia Pacific travel industry for 16 years, Abacus understands the needs of travel agents and we think it is very important to train our agents from the start on how they can learn to understand the needs of their customers and how to fulfil those needs." said Mr Yip.

The customised eight-day Abacus training course was designed to introduce trainees to the fundamentals of Computer Reservation System and provide an understanding of Airlines and Non-Airlines Reservations as well as Ticketing and Automated Travel Management Systems.

This year, 18 students who took part in the placement scheme were offered permanent positions by some of Abacus' top travel agencies and their progress will be monitored by both the polytechnic as well as Abacus.