We then heard from some regional experts working in some of the key locations in Asia Pacific – one region, but each with some specific insights unique to their location.

First off China and  and we welcomed, Fritz Demopoulos, Advisor, WITNext

Fritz talked about the innovation in China but not so much from a technology perspective rather from a business and revenue model angle – the creation of models, some of which might even be considered as bordering on llegal in some countries.

“In China people talk about ‘Cost per action’ and ‘cost per time’. There are a range of offline / online initiatives with hybrid models being seen as making a lot of sense in China” Fritz added.

Fritz mentioned several areas where these new models are emerging – two key ones being Mobile and Big Data. “I would encourage you to think of these (and other) categories when thinking about starting business”, Fritz added.

From Japan we welcomed Kei Shibata, CEO, travel.jp

G is for Gamification NOT for Gaming is the message from Japan. Gamification is the integrating of gaming type features into commerce – creating a sense of competition, collaboration and leveling up.

It’s important to make the distinction between a ‘game’ and the ‘gamification’ of something.

From Indonesia, Graham Hills, General Manager-Indonesia, Wego talked about the importance of Location Based Services in Indonesia and how he sees another emerging trend in the ‘portalisation’ of Coupon sites – one point of entry into all your favorite deal sites.

Despite being one region we are many things.  From the developing massive markets in China and India where most people have never used a fixed-line phone to Blackberry loving Indonesians neighbors to the hi tech bubble that is Japan we are a bubbling mass of opportunities and stages of development.

From Korea, David Asahara, Expedia Affiliate Network Director, North East Asia then offered us another angle.  The message from Korea was “Speed, gadgets and Podcasting!” and, “Prime Time? – what Prime Time?”

David mentioned the Tesco shopping wall – digitally re-creating the store environment and the Kakao application which is increasingly getting more social with its inclusion of sharing and Twitter-like features.

And there was also mention from someone tweeting (#WIT2011) that Facebook is giving Cyworld a run for its money too!

From Australia, Ian Cumming, Founder, GetFlight talked about several sites innovation the way people book flights and how to get from one place to another.

Talking about innovation in Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand, Brett Henry, Vice President Marketing, Abacus International.

Brett talked about innovation in the deal sites market. He also talked about apps being built from the ground up in specific languages and the UI being ‘dialed in’ for the market.  

In Vietnam, Tran Trong Kien, CEO, Buffalo Tours, Vietnam talked to us about big growth in internet usage and how the access is moving to Mobile. The biggest activities are news, search and music.

Payment is a big challenge in Vietnam.  There is change but more trusted opportunities will really drive the uptake of eCommerce and online booking.

Asia Pacific – one region, but many different markets all with their own characteristics and opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.