Despite the global recession, online travel in China is growing rapidly, says PhoCusWright, which says it can help marketers tap into that market.
In fact, the company predicts online travel revenues will increase by 19 percent this year. The country’s current online travel space is up to US$6.9 billion. It accounts for about 11 percent of the country’s entire travel market.
“Due to a variety of factors, the online channel is expected to continue on a strong growth trajectory, and by 2011 will account for about 20 percent of the total market,” says the company.
Ram Bardinathan, PhoCusWright’s general manager of Asia Pacific, says that while the market is growing, it is not accessible to everyone.
“The key parts of the Chinese travel value chain are in varying stages of deregulation and government control. It is vital to understand the triggers that will allow for innovation and opportunity,” he said.
He added that China’s travel market varies considerably within regions and different populations.
"We were surprised at the extent to which the travel purchase patterns, choice of destinations, attitudes to online bookings, propensity to travel, choice of channels, use of technology and payment issues varied across the different Chinese cities we studied,” he said.
PhoCusWright has a new Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in China report based on six months of research.
By David Wilkening
