APG. That was back in 2004. At first, I didn’t personally at- tend the APG meetings; I sent my senior managers instead. But when I eventually went myself, I immediately felt that this was something I wanted to be part of. I learned a great deal from the experience and from the network’s strong connections. I haven’t experienced that elsewhere. In many other as- sociations I belong to, relationships tend to remain purely professional, with very few personal bonds.
travelers. Our role is to nurture and preserve the long- standing partnerships we’ve built with travel agents, who have supported us so faithfully over the years. Jean-Emmanuel Hay: How do you manage relationships with so many partners across such a vast region? Tunku Iskandar: We are constantly in touch, just as we are now, mainly through WhatsApp and email. During our two major annual meetings (World Connect and the Annual
“WHAT MAKES APG TRULY UNIQUE IS THE COMBINATION OF BUSINESS, RELA - TIONSHIPS AND GENUINE FRIENDSHIP”
Jean-Emmanuel Hay: What is your current vision of the APG network? Tunku Iskandar: We now have almost 120 offices around the world, and that’s extremely valuable because each rep- resentative maintains close ties with local businesses and travel agents. However, these travel agents are evolving rapidly — they are adopting new ways of doing business through the internet and artificial intelligence. We must stay close to them, be- cause the foundation of our work lies in the relationships travel agents have with their customers. We should never bypass them by going directly to the
General Meeting) we exchange ideas, discuss challenges, and look for ways to support one another. In addition, we hold an annual regional training program. The most recent one took place in India, and the previous one was held in Malaysia. These interactions strengthen our cooperation across the Asia-Pacific offices, help us identify new opportunities, improve our practices, and allow us to learn from each other’s mistakes. Jean-Emmanuel Hay: How do you handle crises or sudden geopolitical tensions, such as the brief situation this year between Cambodia and Thailand?
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BORN TO BE A BIRD BY CLASS & RELAX
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