The region, specifically China and India, will dominate the online travel space in the next few years, alongside New Zealand, Australia and Japan that will also see an online travel boom.

If you are in the region and want to grow your market share you have to know what strategies to implement, said Clement Wong, director research, PhoCusWright (pictured left) at the WIT Conference session on “Getting your Asian online strategy right”.

APAC has already overtaken the U.S. as the second largest travel market estimated at US$274 billion in 2011, with the U.S. pushed to the third position with US$271 billion. Europe leads with US$337 billion. Positions remain status quo in 2012 with Europe still the biggest (US$355), APAC US$290 and U.S. US$288.

By that same year (2012) Europe will emerge as the world’s largest online market with 41% share, followed by the U.S. at 34%. APAC will control one fifth of the market worldwide. China, with the rise of OTAs, will lead in the region. India, with an increase in online penetration at the same pace as Singapore’s, will level with China.

Wong outlined the emerging trends as:

• Credit card usage rising across the region

• Booking online, pay offline due to complexities over payment in some countries in the region.

• Rising access to Internet, subsequent rise in online travel

• Car rental will form a large segment of the travel services in demand

So how does one do it right in online travel in APAC? Wong offered these suggestions:

• Same, same, but different: Local travel consumption varies widely. Adopt a single strategy but do things differently.

• Best of the East and West: Lend soft touches to matters as one mistake could chase customer away. Ensure the customer’s journey is consistent and make arrangements to meet their needs. For example, travellers from APAC visiting Europe for the first time may just want to shop, but they still want things local such as food or TV programmes, Ensure these needs are met.

• Mobile is King: Technology will leapfrog and many consumers, especially In Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea where Wifi is widespread, will use mobile at WiFi points to search for destination content and plan their holidays. Mobile booking and payments will be common.

“Question is how to have a killer mobile app? What is your mobile strategy,” asked Wong. “You’ll miss out if you have no mobile strategy because we are seeing the beginning of the golden age of online travel in APAC.”