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Abacus International announced that Mr Robert Bailey will commence as President and CEO of the company effective from 14 April 2008. Mr Bailey has more than fifteen years experience in senior strategy, business development and marketing roles in the travel distribution industry including six years with SITA, a leading global telecommunications and IT services company serving the airline, travel and transportation sectors and 11 years with Galileo International, a European-based Global Distribution System (GDS). Most recently, Mr Bailey was Senior Vice President and Managing Director at ITSMA, a professional services practice specialising in technology and services marketing.
Mr Bailey said he was looking forward to the challenge of leading Abacus International on its next phase of development amid a time of significant and fast-moving opportunities in Asian travel distribution.
“I am excited to be joining Abacus at such an important stage in its development. Abacus is deservedly the number one in its market and I look forward to working closely with the Abacus team and all our partners in building on the excellent foundations to drive business growth and service excellence to the next level in today’s dynamic marketplace,” Mr Bailey said. Current President and CEO, Don Birch, announced last year he would be stepping down in 2008 after six years with the company.
“Robert Bailey’s breadth of experience in travel distribution, technology and marketing will be a great asset for Abacus as it moves into the next phase of development. Robert will bring a fresh perspective and new energy to the role as Abacus continues to further build its leadership role in the industry,” Mr Birch said.
Mr Bailey said he also looked forward to building upon Abacus’ strong partnership with Asian travel agents established under Don Birch.
“Abacus has made excellent progress by not just offering strong travel content, but also encouraging and empowering travel agents to tackle the challenges posed by new distribution technologies and the changing airline landscape, which many are doing with great success,” Mr Bailey said.
