APAC Mobile Travel Bookings to Quadruple from 2012-2015

Travel companies across Asia Pacific (APAC) are scrambling to grab a piece of the region's nascent mobile travel market. Home to the world's two largest mobile subscriber bases – China and India – APAC represents an enormous mobile travel opportunity. While banking regulations and other payment barriers continue to impede widespread mobile transactions in most regional markets, a recent Phocuswright Global and Asia Pacific Edition report projects that aggregate mobile travel bookings in China, Japan and India will jump from US$4.6 billion in 2012 to $18.7 billion in 2015.

"Consumers and travel companies are enthusiastically embracing mobile across APAC," says Phocuswright analyst, Deepak Jain. "But despite continued growth, the full potential of the mobile channel in the region is likely to remain untapped in the near future due to low smartphone and tablet penetration, low credit card penetration, and variations in telecom infrastructure."

Mobile payment challenges have made call-to-book a popular mobile feature in the region, and travel companies often include call-center transactions originating from their mobile website or apps within mobile bookings estimates. These transactions have been excluded in Phocuswright's mobile sizing.

Despite the challenges, mobile will be APAC's fastest-growing travel distribution channel through 2015, with online travel agencies in China and India leading growth. China's mobile gross bookings will reach $6.4 billion in 2015, representing 21% of the country's online travel market. In India, where smartphone penetration is among the lowest in the region, 10% of online travel bookings will be booked via mobile by 2015.

Phocuswright's Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Sixth Edition provides sizing and projections for the region's total and online leisure/unmanaged business travel markets from 2011-2015, including analysis by segment and country market. The report analyzes competitive dynamics throughout the region, with insight into gross bookings and growth rates in Australia-New Zealand, China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. For the first time, the report also sizes mobile travel in three major markets: China, Japan and India.

Topics include:

• Sizing and forecasts of the total travel market and online leisure and unmanaged business travel bookings for 2011-2015
• Segmentation for major APAC markets: Australia-New Zealand, China, India and Japan, plus Northeast and Southeast Asia regions
• Mobile travel gross bookings in China, India and Japan for 2012-2015
• Comparison of supplier-branded websites and online travel agencies, including key players, bookings and projected growth rates through 2015
• Analysis of key travel segments (air, hotel, rail and car)
• Examination of the online travel agency landscape – local versus global players and strategic developments
• Review of social media and mobile trends affecting travel distribution

Purchase Phocuswright's Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Sixth Edition to anticipate and capitalize on growth dynamics throughout the APAC region.