A recent PhoCusWright Global andAsia 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.

The report, issued at a time when travel companies across Asia Pacific (APAC) are scrambling to grab a piece of the region’s nascent mobile travel market, tips the region as an enormous mobile travel opportunity – even though banking regulations and other payment barriers continue to impede widespread mobile transactions in most regional markets,

“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.

Photo credit: PhoCusWright