Australia-NZ online travel to continue strong growth
Online travel in the Australia-New Zealand market continues to grow, and will comprise 41% of the total travel market in 2013 – up from 36% in 2011.
This forecast has been made by PhoCusWright, which released the fifth edition of its Australia and New Zealand Online Travel Overview this week. The report revealed that online leisure and unmanaged business travel gross bookings grew 13% in local currency terms in 2011, and 27% in US dollar terms. PhoCusWright projects ANZ’s online travel market will continue see double-digit growth in 2013 – at almost twice the pace of the overall travel market.
“Australia-New Zealand’s consolidated air market may account for a big piece of the region’s online travel market, but it is the more fragmented lodging and intermediary arenas that are really heating up,” said Douglas Quinby, PhoCusWright’s Senior Director of Research. “As growth slows – and it certainly is in mature online markets such as Australia and New Zealand – home-grown online and traditional agencies are stepping up the fight, as are some of the global OTAs.”