ACE Magazine: Issue 2 / 2016 ACE Magazine: Issue 2 / 2016 | Page 63

Management Group of Companies has made significant investment in a system that would allow them to acquire tourism data accurately and in real-time, thus enabling them to gain a deeper knowledge as well as greater insights of the industry, in addition to helping mitigate risks in product development stage. One of its subsidiaries, also leverages on technology to promote its business through social media and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). ONLINE TRAVEL SOLUTION SYSTEM A major force currently shaping the travel industry is the rapid growth of the online tourism business. International travel booking sites such as Agoda.com, Booking.com and Hotel.com are already household names in Malaysia. Based on reports, online transaction in Malaysia stood at RM60 billion (~US$15 billion) in 2014 with a third estimated to go to tourism and travel purchases such as flights and accommodations. Responding to this emerging trend, Sutra Travel Management Group of Companies has strategically modelled its business based on technology in order to take it to the next level. Towards this end, it has established Octraves Technology Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary which focuses on developing a state-of-the-art end-to-end travel solution system also known as TravelCompute®. Five target markets have been identified as end users for the travel solution system namely, (i) Business to Business (B2B); (ii) Business to Consumer (B2C); (iii) Business to Corporate (B2E); (iv)Business to Government (B2G), and (v) Online Travel Agent (OTA). Razif is confident that the system is at least at par if not better than the offerings currently in the market. The system integrates services of more than 50 global providers including aggregators of hotels, flights, trains, buses, restaurants, and many others. In the near future, he plans for the system to include bookings for activities such as cinema tickets and football matches. “Because of this (major events happening in the world), I am always sensitive and proactive. When incidents such as a terrorist attack or epidemic occur in any part of the world, I would analyse which market I should concentrate on. Often, when something happen, an opportunity will also arise.” Dato’ Syed Mohd Razif Al Yahya Web portal pix ISSUE 2 : 2016 | ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS 61