THE SONEVA Group has divested its stake in the Evason Phuket to an international and Thai hospitality and leisure company for an undisclosed sum.

The identity of the buyer has also not been revealed.

The Phuket resort has ceased operations since May 22, 2012, and is no longer managed by Bangkok-based Six Senses Resorts & Spas.

According to a statement from the Soneva Group, the deal was separate from the Pegasus acquisition of the Six Senses and Evason branded resort and spa management contracts in April.

Sonu Shivdasani, founder & CEO of the Soneva Group, said: “This follows our initial strategy to focus on owning and managing our own properties and to work with just one brand, the Soneva brand.”

“Although it did not fit into the Soneva Group’s strategic plans, Evason Phuket is a wonderful property that will continue to thrive under new ownership.”

Shivdasani added that the company was currently working to secure alternative employment and a compensation package for affected staff of the resort.

The Soneva group continues to retain a majority stake in Six Senses Hua Hin, Evason Hua Hin and Six Senses Laamu.

HERMES, an India-based technology firm, has partnered with Shroff International Travel Care to establish GI Philippines Corp (GIPC), a subsidiary which offers multi-GDS travel distribution services in the Philippines though a locally branded online portal, Biyahe Ko(www.biyaheko.com).

According to GIPC corporate director AGK Kumar, Biyahe Ko – which means ‘My Trip’ in English – provides access to Hermes’ international inventory, which taps multiple GDSs to offer an array of travel products including domestic and international air and ferry tickets and hotel rooms.

Ticketing and insurance services, which are integrated into the system’s back-end and accessible without GDS codes, will appeal to travel business startups, as well as established travel firms and corporate travel managers “who are comfortable using whatever language they are using right now,” said RM Palani Yapan, GIPC director.

“We are making their lives simpler by using our products in the front and (GDS) architecture in the back-end,” he explained.

Biyahe Ko also allows merchants to add their own ancillary charges to domestic and international flight bookings – capped at PHP999 (US$23) and PHP9,999 respectively – based on airline and passenger profile. Hotel reservations, on the other hand, allow travel experts to keep 90 per cent of the commission, with the rest going to the portal.

GI Philippines is the second Indian joint-venture company to enter the Philippine online travel distribution services arena after Via.com, which launched in 4Q2011 to target startup retail travel merchants selling Philippine hotels and flights.

– Read more in TTG Asia, June 1, 2012 issue

ABACUS International has released Abacus SmartPrice, a new product that provides Abacus-connected travel consultants in Asia-Pacific with convenient access to more than five million origin and destination net fares.

“Net fares are playing an increasingly important role in the Asia-Pacific travel landscape, and this is evidenced by a high penetration rate of net fares content of up to 60 per cent in some markets, said Abacus VP marketing and VP India, Brett Henry.

“We recognise the constant demand among travel players for information on both the lowest fares as well as a wide range of fare options, and the integrated content with net fares will help them do this more efficiently.”

“Abacus SmartPrice integrates all published, corporate and net fare content into a single workspace screen, to ensure agents have quick and easy access to the most cost-effective fares for the traveller,” he added.

With Abacus SmartPrice, travel consultants can search for all published and net fares distributed by wholesalers and airlines through a single search, in the process saving up to 80 per cent of their time and boosting productivity.

Abacus SmartPrice’s integrated net fares content is currently available in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Subsequently, individual launches will be rolled out in other markets across Asia-Pacific.