Online travel sales in Asia will grow about 90 percent over the next 10 years, say industry experts, with China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Vietnam leading the way. According to exhibitors of the inaugural ITB Asia event, the new B2B travel trade show to be held in Singapore, 22-24 October, a majority of the cyber sales are expected to come from current customers aged up to 25 as they gain more spending power over the next decade. According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, regional tourism is expected to soar with nearly 500 million visitors arriving by 2010, generating US$4.6 trillion in revenue. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and global management consultancy, Accenture, expect the hospitality industry to be worth US$15 trillion in the next ten years. Hotels now have to keep up with the growing competition by aggressively embracing technology. ITB Asia will have a Travel Technology pavilion and delegates are also being offered preferential rates to attend the Web in Travel technology event which takes place 21-22 October, also in Suntec Singapore. The key theme is how technology will change the way we communicate and travel in the future. ITB Asia will cater to the three major sectors of the travel industry: holiday travel, business travel, and the meetings, or MICE sector. About 5,000 members of the travel industry are expected to attend the premiere of ITB Asia. Floor space is already sold out with exhibitors confirmed from 42 countries. |