CAT, SUMATERA TOURIST BOARD TEAM UP TO HELP TRAVEL AGENTS

From Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin

MEDAN, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Malaysian company Creative Advances Technology
Sdn Bhd (CAT) and the North Sumatera Tourism Promotion Board (NSTPB) Friday
signed a pact to help travel agents in the province enhance their online
presence via Standard Online Tourism Architecture (SOTA) travel platform.

CAT chief executive officer, Rohizam Md Yusoff, said the RM20 million
(US$5.98 million) SOTA platform was developed to bridge the industry's gap by
connecting travel agents globally.

"It includes travel package, hotel, flight booking and other travel-related
technology integral to the entire supply chain of the tourism industry," he said
at the SOTA North Sumatera Conference here Friday.

CAT, leader and pioneer in tourism technologies, was set up to boost the
development of information, communications and technology industry.

It is also the developer of VirtualMalaysia.com, the official e-tourism
portal for Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism.

Rohizam said CAT has developed a website, Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand
Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) tourism portal, with the SOTA platform, where agents
from these countries could use to promote their business internationally.

"It is connected to more more than 9,000 travel agents globally.

"Soon, about 15,000 travel suppliers under the Pacific Asia Travel
Association (PATA) will be joining the integrated platform, which is also
expected to bring more benefits to NSTPB members," he said.

CAT and PATA last year signed a two-year agreement to offer the SOTA
platform of e-commerce and contents to PATA members worldwide.

It is now in the process developing the website for PATA which will be fully
operational later this quarter.

North Sumatera, which covers about 71,680 sq km, or 3.7 per cent of total
Indonesia's area, is expected to receive 180,000 tourists this year.

Meanwhile, NSTPB executive director, Athur M.D. Batubara, said the new
online marketing approach would broaden the market and increase the number of
inbound tourists.

Chairman of IMG-GT business council, Datuk Faudzi Naim Noh, said Medan was
now an important tourist destination in the growth triangle.

"So it is important for us to step up our marketing efforts using the SOTA
technology," he said.

Medan, the capital of North Sumatera, is one of Indonesia's most popular
tourist destinations.

Another is Danau Toba, or Lake Toba, home to the world's largest crater lake
and island-within-an-island.
-- BERNAMA