The ongoing battle between hoteliers and third party intermediaries over control of inventory and the customer is set to become more complex as a massive influx of supply and changes in consumer behaviour converge to transform the hotel landscape in Asia Pacific.

In other words, expect to see power shifts between OTAs, in particular, and hotels as the former moves in to ride on the boom and consolidate their hold while global hotel brands crank up their inventory in the region.

Published this month, PhoCusWright's Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition: Hotels shows the region's maturing hotel market is growing rapidly and online bookings are soaring despite mounting concerns over an economic slowdown in key Asian markets such as China and India. 


One key underlying change, according to PhoCusWright's Douglas Quinby (right) and Chetan Kapoor, is the rapid transition from standalone hotel supply to branded ones in a span of just one year.

According to STR Global, unaffiliated hotel properties accounted for 63% of the APAC hotel supply in 2010, and it's down to 58% in 2011. IHG, Starwood, Accor and Marriott as well as local chains are doubling down their efforts in the Asia Pacific region, especially China and India.

As such, the report notes that APAC's Long Tail of independent hotels is getting shorter as a robust pipeline among global, regional and local chains greatly expands branded and upscale hotel options in the region.

PhoCusWright projects continued growth for the overall APAC hotel market and strong double-digit gains for the region's online leisure/unmanaged business travel market through 2013, when online hotel penetration will reach 22%.

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