Asia Pacific: Hotel Websites Gain Momentum in OTA-Dominated Online Hotel Market

Online travel agencies rule Asia Pacific's online hotel segment, thanks in part to a fragmented lodging landscape ripe for aggregation. But with global and regional hotel chains growing rapidly across the region, online travel agencies' (OTA) domination is no longer going unchallenged. According to a new Phocuswright Asia Pacific and Global Editionreport, hotel websites are growing faster than OTA hotel bookings in 2013 – and suppliers are on track to capture a larger piece of the region's online hotel channel.

With air ticketing returns diminishing, many APAC intermediaries are hitching their wagons to the region's hotel opportunity. OTAs accounted for nearly two thirds of APAC's US$23 billion online hotel market in 2012. And while supplier websites are expected to increase their channel share by just one percentage point by 2015, branded hotels are positioning themselves to be increasingly competitive online players.

"Hotel chains are aggressively pursuing supplier-direct initiatives, but change is not going to happen overnight," says Phocuswright research analyst Chetan Kapoor. "OTAs have a substantial lead, and intermediaries will continue to have an edge in booking unbranded hotels, which comprise the bulk of hotel supply across APAC. It may be slow going, but hotel suppliers are beginning to chip away at OTAs' share of the online channel."

Online hotel penetration and competitive dynamics vary dramatically by country. Although Japan currently accounts for 57% of APAC's online hotel market, the country's share will decline to 49% by 2015 as China, India and other emerging markets experience rapid growth.

Phocuswright's Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Sixth Edition Hotels: Opportunities – and Obstacles – Aplenty presents market sizing and projections for the total and online leisure and unmanaged business travel markets from 2011-2015. The report analyzes competitive dynamics throughout APAC, with insight into hotel gross bookings and growth rates in China, Japan, Australia/New Zealand (ANZ), India, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.


Topics include:

• Total hotel market and online leisure/unmanaged business travel bookings for 2011-2015
• Segmentation for four major APAC markets: ANZ, India, China and Japan, plus Northeast and Southeast Asia regions
• Comparison of hotel-branded websites and online travel agencies (OTAs), including gross bookings and projected growth rates through 2015
• Detailed analysis of key OTAs' hotel strategies and growth
• Impact of APAC hotel market developments, including insight into alternative accommodations, user-generated content and mobile

Purchase Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Sixth Edition Hotels: Opportunities – and Obstacles – Aplenty now to navigate opportunities and obstacles in the Asia Pacific hotel market.