Travel agents are being urged to harness new mobile phone technology. That's the message from Robert Bailey, President and CEO of Abacus International - a leading Asia travel facilitator. He says that mobile phones are now the most pervasive form of technology. "Harnessing the new technology available for the mobile platform must be a central part of travel agents strategy for growth", he says. "With some 1.5 billion mobile subscribers in Asia Pacific the sheer penetration makes mobiles a powerful tool for interacting with consumers."

The top five countries for mobile subscribers - China, India, Japan, Indonesia and Pakistan - account for 1.2 billion or 80% of mobile subscribers in Asia Pacific. China already has the largest number of mobile phone subscribers, 540 million as of March 2008; India has overtaken the United States to become the second largest mobile market.

According to telecommunication companies in the two countries, China and India are adding, on average, a total of 15 million new subscribers each month. "Currently three billion people in the world have access to a mobile phone and only one billion to a computer," says Mr Bailey. "With mobile phone users expected to rise to four billion by 2010, it is not difficult to imagine the now humble cell phone will become the world's portal to the internet as well as the key to inter-personal communication."

"Mobile as a travel tool is still a very context sensitive channel," adds Bailey. "Most business and leisure travellers currently view mobile as a method to receive real-time updates and information, such as flight delays, gate information and directions. While the capability obviously exists, there is not yet a universal demand for using a mobile to book the next family holiday. Travel is, by its very nature, mobile and travellers benefit from real-time information and increased simplicity in their travel arrangements."