State of Startups: Asia 2005-2013

Summary

As Asian travel markets hurtle into online maturity, innovative startups are playing a growing role in the region. Established global players have met with mixed success in Asia, as everywhere they go they confront savvy, lean and hungry innovators with local advantages. Bigger local players such as hotels, airlines and offline agencies have often been slow to adapt, leaving the door open for new startups to bring consumers local options that increasingly resemble those enjoyed in more mature markets, albeit with a local twist.

Phocuswright has aggregated data on travel startups in Asia dating back to 2005, pulling together a pool of 162 companies focused on some part of the travel search-shop-buy-share cycle. This analysis segments the companies by country, commercial focus (e.g., lodging, flights, advertising, etc.) and technical area of focus.

Investment dollars increasingly chase some of the world's fastest growing online travel markets in APAC. This analysis provides a map of the current travel startup landscape across Asia – where entrepreneurs are focusing their attention, where investment dollars are flowing, and what industry segments and problems are capturing the attention of entrepreneurs and investors alike.