To be run along the lines of an “Amazing Race” which has run an amazing 23 seasons, the campaign aims to promote the notion that online’s the best way to plan and book travel because not only it is easy, you also get the most amazing deals.

The alliance includes all the leading OTA players in Asia including global, regional and local OTA brands. It is understood the big players will provide seed funding but the alliance may go for a crowd-sourcing model to allow everyone to take part in this initiative.

A spokesperson for the alliance said, “It is time online travel players got together to grow the market.

“If you look at PhoCusWright reports – the only measure we have currently – it says that online bookings in South-east Asia grew 34% in 2011, which was 12% of the APAC online market and that it will increase 24% by 2013 when its share of the APAC online travel market will reach 14%.

“I mean, that’s still a low percentage given the high Internet penetration in South-east Asia – so the elephant in the room question that needs to be asked is, why is online travel’s share still so low? What are the obstacles? What needs to be done if we are to grow the overall online share?”

The reality television series, to be launched in the third quarter, will pit 12 travellers from different markets. “The idea is we will give them an itinerary which they have to completely plan and book online and the first person to complete the task at the most amazing price will win.

“We will also have online experts coaching them on the best way to use the web to plan and book travel – the different tools and sites out there – so the competition is also an educational platform to teach consumers to get smart about online travel.

“We haven’t yet worked out the specifics so watch this (online) space,” said the spokesperson, who declined to disclose funding, but hinted it would be way below the amount travel suppliers were currently spending on Google search.

“With the increase in costs of customer acquisition, we need to get creative about how we generate demand for all our sites – and this is one way to do it collaboratively.”

As for the prize, the spokesperson said it was being worked out but it would be “super-exciting”. “We may run this as a social media campaign to ask people their dream prize, so it becomes truly about the crowd, which online is all about.”

He added, “The key thing is the formation of the alliance – this is a game-changer. It marks the day online travel in APAC becomes mainstream – we need to get together as an industry to grow the market, educate travellers so they get the best customer experience online so they return again and again.”

Asked if the alliance would also include suppliers such as airlines and hotel brands, he said, “Low cost airlines feel they’ve already done a good job of educating their customers to book directly with them and hotel brands now feel they want to increase their website direct business and bypass intermediaries but this campaign is all about “one for all and all for one”, so we hope to get everyone onboard – everyone who has a vested interest in increasing online travel’s share of the market in Asia.

“I know it’s a bit of a stretch to get full unity – but hey, everything starts with a dream, right? And we have to begin somewhere.”

The theme song for the “TAO” campaign will be, you guessed it, “Dream On”, the song by Aerosmith and made even more popular by contestant Amanda Brown in “The Voice” (pictured above).