Online travel search firm Kayak grows Asia-Pacific presence with office in Hong Kong
United States travel search engine Kayak is set to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific with a new office in Hong Kong and a larger team as the online travel market in the region is expected to become the world’s largest next year, its president said.
Keith Melnick, president of the travel search engine which lets users compare hotels, flights or packages across different websites through 1.5 billion searches made each year, said the company had seen strong growth across its 12 local websites in the region and that a larger physical presence would help develop the market further.
“The Asia market is huge. Next year it is on path to be the biggest online travel market in the world,” Melnick said.
“We’ve grown 200 to 300 per cent a year in Asia-Pacific with little investment. It’s a big market, but we don’t have a significant presence yet, but the market is ripe for what we offer.”
Online travel sales in Asia are expected to grow more than 21 per cent to US$215.92 billion in 2017, outstripping forecasts for the North American market at US$200.43 billion, according to eMarketer.
It’s a big market ... the market is ripe for what we offer
China’s growing middle class that enjoy travel and a high use of mobile devices for booking trips, will see digital travel sales grow 36 per cent to hit US$95.29 billion this year, eMarketer predicts.