On the walls are computer screens that show revenue tickers, session tickers, downloading times, tweet tracking – it’s like being in a medical room hooked to machines that tell you what your vital signs are at any time.

This is after all a business where the vital signs have to be closely monitored at all times so that customers, anytime, anywhere, can use the site to search for flights anywhere around the world.

“Did you ever think nine years from now, you’d be here, looking down on this view?” I asked Gareth Williams (left), one of the founders who was in Singapore to celebrate the office opening.

“I didn’t know so but it’s always been a goal. When we first came out couple of years ago, we wanted to open in Asia but I guess the turning point was when we saw a data point that said seven of the top 10 routes for traffic were in Asia.”

One of its secrets to success is hiring local nationals in markets it goes into and thus far, it has recruited successfully in India, Indonesia, Philippines and China. It is still recruiting for Korea, and Australia and New Zealand, said Ewan Gray, regional director for Asia Pacific (right).

How much is the company investing in its Asian expansion? Williams doesn’t disclose the amount but says it has made a £2.5 million external investment in Europe and because it is a profitable business – its target revenue this year is £23.5 million this financial year – it will be putting money made into Asia.

He is clear about one goal though – to grow Asia traffic to surpass its current European traffic in two years. That means growing from 1 million sessions a month to 15 million sessions a month.

For Williams, the answer to growing traffic is not spending mega millions on SEM or other forms of advertising. “It is quality of results and coverage of flights that lead to longterm traffic,” he said. “50% of our visitors are repeat.

“If you deliver results, users will be loyal, they will tell their friends and they will feel strongly about your brand.”

Gray said he would be working on the B2B front to develop travel agency partnerships and on the B2C side to increase brand awareness.

“In some markets in Europe, such as Poland or Hungary, consumers are often more likely to book offline even though they search online and we’ve found partners with dedicated phone lines and we share commissions. We will investigate these opportunities here.”

Travel agents are also encouraged to look for information on the site. “There is no incremental costs to us as we are not paying GDS fees so if they want to use us as an information resource, that’s fine for us,” said Williams.