What 2013 holds for technology & online

Speaks to leading players in technology and online space to know its growing importance and increasing force of online players in tourism. A few excerpts...

VIVEK SETHI Technology

and the Online Travel Companies had been the flavour of the season growing irrespective of the changing economic business cycles. In fact, they strive ahead to rapidly change the distribution and consumption pattern of 2012 has been a mixed year in terms of the growth in the travel sector. The growth this year will be determined by the rate at which supply will be inducted in the marketplace. It is expected to be slower than what we have seen in the past few years. Harnessing of demand and driving mobility in and out and within the Tier-II and Tier-III markets in the country will contribute significantly to the growth in the industry. With improvement in the per capita income, and increased spending by customers, the Indian hospitality sector is also expected to grow faster than most countries around the world. For 2013, we expect to see continued growth within the AsiaPacific with a third of the world’s air traffic expected to come from Asia-Pacific by 2025. Within India, we can look forward to a path of growth for the travel industry as it maintains its position as the second in the world in terms of travel spend with an expected 7.8 per cent growth per annum from 2012 to 2022. The online market especially in India is set to grow sharply, bringing with it an increase in online penetration. Fast growth, a growing middle class with disposable income, increases in online and mobile as well as growing industries have India poised as one of the leading markets in 2013. travel products. The tough global economic environment is seemingly not a big challenge for the compa- nies in the technology and online space. They look more interested in finding newer avenues and pene- trate in Tier- I and Tier- II markets. TravTalk finds the expectations of these leading players.