Expedia heralds Asia-Pacific as key growth driver

Expedia heralds Asia-Pacific as key growth driver

Mr Khosrowshahi says that Asia-Pacific represents 60% of the global population and has an expanding tourism market that is already bigger than that of the US.
Mr Khosrowshahi says that Asia-Pacific represents 60% of the global population and has an expanding tourism market that is already bigger than that of the US.

Las Vegas: Expedia Inc, the world's largest travel website, aims to expand its operations in Asia-Pacific in the coming year, saying the region has a vast tourism potential.

"Asia-Pacific is absolutely our first priority as it represents 60% of the global population. Moreover, the tourism market in this region is bigger than that of the US and grows faster. And if you want to grow in Asia-Pacific, you have to be on mobile," president and chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi told Expedia Partner Conference 2016 recently.

The three key markets in Asia-Pacific are China, India and Southeast Asia. China is one of Expedia's fastest-growing markets, while India, which is mostly a domestic market, has a lot of opportunities as a billion Indian consumers look outward and are ready to travel the globe.

Mieke De Schepper, vice-president for market management in Asia-Pacific at Expedia Singapore Pte, said the region will be a growth driver for Expedia next year. The potential market is travelling within Asia.

"Thailand tops Expedia's list of popular destinations in Asia. The Thai tourism market has bounced back very fast after the country lost His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct 13. Major airports are packed with foreign tourists especially Chinese, Southeast Asian, Japanese and Korean," she said.

Expedia continues to make major investments in Asia-Pacific. Last year, it expanded its business in Taiwan, South Korea and India and has strengthened its ties with partners in China to bring Chinese tourists to many parts of the world including Europe, the US and Asia.

Expedia owns a host of travel websites including Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotwire, Egencia, Trivago, Venere and Wotif.

Currently, the market outside the US accounts for over one-third of Expedia's business and it wants to expand it to two-thirds in the future.

To achieve the goal, Mr Khosrowshahi said Expedia has to succeed in the Asia-Pacific market and grow further in Europe, which is also key to driving future growth especially for travel via rail networks.

He said mobile bookings continue to rise globally and are playing a bigger role in Asia-Pacific.

Today, 40% of worldwide traffic for Expedia comes from mobile devices and more than one in four room nights booked globally was made via mobile. In Asia-Pacific, more than one in three room night bookings came from mobile.

"In Asia-Pacific, consumers are skipping PCs and going directly to mobile. In China, mobile bookings exceed 50%," Mr Khosrowshahi said.

Time spent on the internet via mobile phones rises every year, hitting 68% globally this year and is forecast to reach 75% in 2017 and 79% in 2018. In China and Hong Kong, it is getting close to 80% with mobile apps accounting for the biggest share.

For travel to Thailand, demand via mobile devices grew by 55% with most of the demand coming from the US, Britain, Sweden, Hong Kong and Australia.

Last year, the US travel company invested US$830 million on tech development and now has more than 200 travel booking sites in more than 75 countries.

This year, Expedia is celebrating its 20th anniversary in online travel. It forecasts global revenue of $8 billion baht in 2016. In the first nine months, Expedia saw 29% growth in gross bookings.

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