Article
The travel retail revolution and the rise of the travel consultant
BY CHRIS HENZ ON 26 MAY 2016
There can be too much of a good thing.
The revolution in travel retail has caused disruption across the industry and, more often than not, it is being led by the empowered traveler. An overabundance of travel information and booking options available online was initially viewed as a threat to traditional travel consultants, but it ended up creating a lot of noise — and that noise has proven to be a boon instead. Read more
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Eid Mubarak Greetings & Sabre Indonesia Office Hour During Lebaran Period
Eid Mubarak to You and Your Family! All management and staffs of PT Sabre Travel Network Indonesia would like to send the warmest greetings to all those celebrating Eid Al-Fitr. May the blessings of Allah fill your life with happiness and open all the doors of success now and always. Due to the Eid Al-Fitr holidays, please note that Sabre Indonesia offices will be temporarily closed from 11 – 20 June 2018. During the holidays, our Helpdesk and Electra Developer team will remain stand by on June 11 – 14 and 18 – 20, from 8.30 AM to 2.30 PM. Customer Support after office hour HP : 0816 920 832 atau 0812 186 2323 Email : helpdesk@sabretn.co.id, technical@sabretn.co.id, marketing@sabretn.co.id , electra-support@sabretn.co.id Thank you for your kind attention and Happy Holiday! Best Regards, Sabre Travel Network … READ MORE
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Roshan Mendis appointed senior vice president of Sabre Travel Network, Asia Pacific
SOUTHLAKE, Texas,July 1, 2015 – Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) announced today that it has appointed Roshan Mendis as senior vice president for Sabre Travel Network, Asia Pacific, following the completion of its acquisition of Abacus International today. In his new role, Mendis will be responsible for the overall Sabre Travel Network business in the Asia Pacific region which will include the newly acquired Abacus business. Mendis joins the team following 12 years with Travelocity.com, where he was most recently president of the Americas, until its sale in early 2015 to Expedia. Mendis was also formally president of Zuji, Travelocity’s Asia Pacific brand, based in Singapore, and prior to that, vice president of Travelocity Partner Network. “Roshan brings significant industry experience, as well as local knowledge and relationships within Asia, having worked for six years in Singapore at Zuji,” said Greg Webb, president, Sabre Travel Network. “This is an exciting time for Sabre and Abacus, and Roshan is perfectly suited to lead the business and bring together the local expertise of Asia-born and bred Abacus with the global capabilities of Sabre for the benefit of all agency and supplier customers.” The acquisition of Abacus strengthens the global technology provider’s presence in the Asia- Pacific region, where Abacus serves 100,000 travel agents across the region’s 59 markets. “The opportunities for further innovation in Asia-Pacific and closer collaboration with suppliers and agency customers are almost limitless. We will invest in this region to help our customers grow faster and expand more rapidly into new markets. It is great to be back in this region with Sabre at such an exciting time,” said Mendis. A native of Sri Lanka, Mendis holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Rice University, Texas. He earned his Degree in Economics at the Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mendis will relocate from Texas, and be based at Sabre’s Asia Pacific regional headquarters in … READ MORE
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Abacus Consulting
Knowing how your company stacks up against other leading companies is key to your success. Abacus Consulting delivers penetrating insights as a result of our work with agencies, suppliers and governments around the world. Our global scale provides you with an in-depth, objective assessment of your business especially in the area of productivity, efficiency, costs and technology. Identify areas of strength and areas for potential improvement and bring your business further with Abacus Consulting. Breaking new ground with you. Contact us to find out … READ MORE
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Sabre to acquire Abacus International
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, and SINGAPORE, May 14, 2015 – Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abacus International, the leading global distribution system (GDS) in the Asia-Pacific region. Abacus is currently owned by a consortium of 11 Asian airlines along with Sabre, which has a 35% stake in the company. Sabre will purchase the remaining portion of Abacus for net cash consideration of $411 million. “The Asia-Pacific travel market is the largest and fastest growing in the world,” said Tom Klein, Sabre President and CEO. “Acquiring Abacus immediately combines the global capabilities of Sabre with the deep local market expertise of the leading Asia-Pacific GDS. This powerful combination will give customers even more innovation and service options, while allowing Sabre to accelerate growth globally in a very capital efficient way – and to gain regional synergies in all three of our businesses serving travel agents, airlines and hospitality companies.” Abacus International President and CEO, Robert Bailey added, “With our extended network in Asia-Pacific, Abacus has built a trusted brand of unique significance and scale. We now have the opportunity to take the business forward even faster, broadening the scope within the Sabre family and with the support of our shareholder carriers. This is great news for the industry in Asia-Pacific, and we look forward to passing the benefits of integration to all sectors of this region’s diverse travel community.” Abacus serves more than 100,000 travel agents across the Asia-Pacific region’s 59 markets and has both global and uniquely local relationships with airlines and hotels, including the leading portfolio of low-cost content and Chinese airline content. Separately, the acquisition includes new long-term distribution agreements between Sabre and the 11 airline owners of Abacus. “We look forward to continuing our long-term business relationships with our former partners in Abacus, and our new agreements will provide benefits and confidence to travel agents throughout the Asia-Pacific region for many years to come,” said Greg Webb, President of Sabre Travel Network. “Abacus currently provides a broad set of services to its customers using a base of Sabre technology for the large majority of core functions to market, distribute, sell and service travel in the Asia-Pacific region,” Webb added. “That, along with deep local market capabilities, will result in a smooth transition for Asia-Pacific customers, who should see the benefits of global capabilities while continuing to use our familiar, leading technology.” Abacus will operate as a region of Sabre Travel Network, and Sabre expects its expanded Asia-Pacific direct presence will benefit Sabre Airline Solutions and Sabre Hospitality Solutions, which already provide mission-critical support to 78 airlines and thousands of hotels throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Sabre also will continue its partnership to provide technology services to INFINI, a local Japanese GDS. “Sabre and Abacus have established the gold standard for service and content in the Asia-Pacific region, and that only gets better,” Klein said. “Together with Abacus, Sabre will provide customers and suppliers with improved and faster access to Sabre’s industry-leading innovations, including low-cost carrier content, ancillary capabilities, data analytics, and the latest in mobile solutions and personalization services. Additionally, airlines and travel agencies will have more options for new and differentiated products and services created specifically for customers in the Asia-Pacific market.” Subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015. The acquisition, including associated working capital adjustments and cash acquired, is expected to be financed through approximately $250 million in cash on hand, augmented by incremental net debt of approximately $160 million. Pro forma for the transaction, Sabre estimates its March 31, 2015 net debt to trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA ratio would be 3.3x, compared to 3.0x as reported. Assuming a third quarter closing date, Sabre expects the transaction will increase 2015 revenue by approximately $120 million, be approximately neutral to 2015 Adjusted EPS and modestly accretive to current-year Adjusted EBITDA. In 2016, Sabre expects the transaction to increase revenue by more than $300 million, to increase Adjusted EBITDA by approximately $50 million and to be accretive to Adjusted EPS by approximately $0.05. Conference Call Sabre will conduct an investor conference call on Thursday, May 14 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live webcast, including accompanying slide presentation, can be accessed via the Sabre Investor Relations website at investors.sabre.com. A recording of the call will be archived for replay following the conference call. About the Company Sabre Corporation is a leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels to manage vital operations, such as passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, and flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates the world’s leading travel marketplace, processing more than $110 billion of annual travel spend. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre operates in approximately 60 countries around the world. Website Information We routinely post important information for investors on our website, www.sabre.com, in the Investor Relations section. We intend to use this website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investor Relations section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document. Forward-looking statements Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements about trends, future events, uncertainties and our plans and expectations of what may happen in the future. Any statements that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “will,” “expect,” “would,” “estimates,” “may,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Sabre’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the closing and effects of the acquisition described in this release, dependency on transaction volumes in the global travel industry, particularly air travel transaction volumes, adverse global and regional economic and political conditions, including, but not limited to, conditions in Venezuela and Russia, dependence on maintaining and renewing contracts with customers and other counterparties, exposure to pricing pressure in the Travel Network business, dependence on relationships with travel buyers, changes affecting travel supplier customers, travel suppliers’ usage of alternative distribution models, and competition in the travel distribution market and solutions markets. More information about potential risks and uncertainties that could affect our business and results of operations is included in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in Sabre’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future events, results, actions, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Unless required by law, Sabre undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events after the date they are made. Note on Non-GAAP Financial Measures This release refers to unaudited non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EPS, and the ratios based on these financial measures. We define Adjusted EBITDA as Adjusted Net Income adjusted for depreciation and amortization of property and equipment, amortization of capitalized implementation costs, amortization of upfront incentive consideration, interest expense, net, and remaining provision (benefit) for income taxes. We define Adjusted Net Income as income (loss) from continuing operations adjusted for impairment, acquisition related amortization, loss on extinguishment of debt, other, net, restructuring and other costs, litigation and taxes, including penalties, stock-based compensation, management fees, and tax impact of net income adjustments. We define Adjusted EPS as Adjusted Net Income divided by the applicable share count. We present non-GAAP measures when our management believes that the additional information provides useful information about our operating performance. Non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be a substitute for, and should not be considered in isolation from, the financial measures reported in accordance with … READ MORE
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ABACUS ENTRIES FOR SKYTEAM FARES
Dear All Travel Agents, These are the SKYTEAM Fares Entries On Abacus System , Round TheWorld Entry (FQSELSEL01SEPRW-KE ) GO Africa Entry ( FQNBOJNB05MARIT-KQ/USD ) GO China Entry ( FQCANSHA20MAY-CZ¥PSKY ) GO Italy Entry ( FQROMPMO20MAY-AZ¥PITX ) GO Russia Entry ( FQMOWLED01MAYIT-SU ) Happy Booking , Thanks and Regards, Customer Support Abacus Indonesia Updated … READ MORE
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Christmas Office Closure
Merry Christmas! Please be informed that our office will be closed on Monday, 25 December 2017, and for Tuesday, 26 December 2017 Our Customer Service operating hours will be changed from 08.30 AM – 13.30 PM. Thank you for your kind attention and happy holiday! Best Regards Sabre Travel Network Indonesia Customer support after office hours HP : 0816920832 or 0812862323 Email : helpdesk@sabretn.co.id, technical@sabretn.co.id, … READ MORE
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Sabre completes acquisition of Abacus International
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, July 1, 2015 – Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Abacus International, the leading global distribution system (GDS) in the Asia Pacific region. “The addition of Abacus further strengthens Sabre’s leading position in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region,” said Sabre President & CEO Tom Klein. “Our ability to combine Sabre’s strong global technology platform capabilities with Abacus’ deep local market expertise will provide Asia-Pacific airline, hospitality and travel agency customers with unprecedented innovation and service options. It also makes us an ideal technology partner for global customers seeking to grow and expand in Asia-Pacific.” Abacus serves more than 100,000 travel agents across the Asia-Pacific region’s 59 markets and has both global and uniquely local relationships with airlines and hotels, including the leading portfolio of low-cost airline content and Chinese airline content. Sabre, which previously owned 35% of Abacus, acquired the remaining portion for net cash consideration of $411 million. Separately, the acquisition includes new long-term distribution agreements between Sabre and the 11 Asian airlines that previously shared ownership of Abacus with Sabre. The acquisition, including associated working capital adjustments and cash acquired, was financed through cash on hand, augmented by revolver borrowings of $70 million. Sabre has also signed an agreement to acquire Abacus national marketing company, Abacus Distribution Systems (Hong Kong). Sabre management will update financial guidance as it relates to the Abacus acquisition during the company’s next earnings conference call, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 4, … READ MORE
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PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
Dear Sabre customer, As previously communicated, 30 June is the deadline for disabling SSL/early TLS and implementing TLS 1.2, a more secure encryption protocol, in order to meet the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for safeguarding payment data. It is in our mutual best interest to be prepared well in advance of the deadline so there are no resulting business impacts to Sabre or our customers. Beginning 19 June, Sabre will block traffic that uses non-compliant SSL protocols and versions of TLS protocols prior to 1.2. This action will allow both Sabre and our customers the chance to validate that systems will operate as expected before the 30 June deadline and the non-compliant protocols are permanently disabled. Additionally, we will conduct a test run that will allow both Sabre and our customers the chance to catalog and remediate any unforeseen effects before June 19. During the test run listed below, Sabre Web Services will stop accepting non-compliant connections. Any products not upgraded to compliant versions will stop working as will any custom applications not using TLS 1.2 to connect to Sabre Web Services. Non-compliant connections will be restored at the end of the test run. Test Run: 10 June 2018 from 09:00 SGT to 13:00 SGT / 02:00 BST to 06:00 BST (9 June 2018 from 20:00 CDT to 00:00 CDT) You can evaluate your PCI status and find more information on how to become PCI compliant on the IATA website. The final change for non-compliant connections is scheduled for 19 June at 08:00 SGT / 01:00 BST (18 June at 19:00 CDT). There will be no exceptions. Please understand that your business operations will be impacted if you do not take action prior to this date (ensure desktop software can support TLS 1.2 – most notably Operating System, Web Browser, and/or Citrix desktop client). Remember, Windows XP and Vista do not support TLS 1.2, which may make your agency vulnerable to known security risks. Any computers on Windows XP or Vista should upgrade to a newer operating system for improved security and compliance. Additionally, these operating systems are no longer supported by Microsoft and Sabre – further increasing their vulnerability. We will continue to send you reminders periodically prior to the deadline. However, we strongly encourage you to upgrade now and thus avoid last-minute hassles. If you have already upgraded to TLS 1.2, let us know so we can remove you from future reminders. Please contact your Account Director or Sabre Technical Support Team with any questions. Best Regards, Your Sabre … READ MORE