A PIONEER in Singapore’s online travel space, Asiatravel.com, is taking decisive action to get itself back in the black, after experiencing significant losses in both 3Q2011 and 3Q2012.
“We’ve been profitable since the company first listed in 2001. Unfortunately, 2011 and 2012 have proven to be rather tumultuous for us. We faced intense competition from rivals who had deep pockets to pour into marketing and advertising. Simultaneously, we invested a substantial amount in developing and launching new products and services,” said Boh Tuang Poh, executive chairman, Asiatravel.com.
“Nonetheless, we are confident that we will be able to ride it out, and return to profitability in the near future.”
In order to turn the company around, the group will focus on three core areas – B2C online hotel reservation; B2C online flight packages; and B2B online services, which has been its most resilient division so far.
Boh said: “First and foremost, we aim to make Asiatravel profitable once again by the first half of the 2013 financial year. Once this is achieved, we will jumpstart growth by deepening each of the three core products we’ve developed, while ensuring that we make significant returns on our investment. B2B is particularly crucial for us, as we believe growth in this area will be rapid, especially once our online B2B platform, TAcentre, is fully up and running.”
However, Boh admitted this was easier said than done, owing to the ongoing challenge in attracting and retaining quality employees.
“To some degree, we are stretching ourselves too thinly in terms of manpower. To ease this crunch, we outsource back-end operations including IT to Batam and Myanmar, with most employees across our main offices remaining focused on their key roles as travel consultants and managers. Furthermore, in order to move ahead of the pack, we are investing in our staff to grow organically.”
