Online Travel Agent Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2031

This report describes and evaluates the global online travel agent market. It covers 2016-2021, termed the historic period, 2021-2026 forecast period, and 2026-2031 forecast period.

The global online travel agent market reached a value of nearly $664.4 billion in 2021, having increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2% since 2016. The market increased from $664.4 billion in 2021 to $1,002.5 billion in 2026 at a rate of 8.6%. The market is expected to grow to $1,326.9 billion in 2031 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8%.

Growth factors in the historic period include a rise in disposable income, strong economic growth in emerging markets, rapid population growth, demographic shift, improved earning capacity, a rise in E-commerce, acceptance of solo travel and technological advances. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were coronavirus outbreak, skilled workforce shortages, high taxes on air travel, and demand for offline travel agencies.

Going forward, rapidly growing urban population, increasing population growth, a shift in travel trends, the resurgence of staycation, faster economic growth, a surge in smartphone users, increased car rental opportunities, technology, and government initiatives will drive the market for online travel agent. Factors that could hinder the growth of the online travel agent market in the future include low digital literacy, geopolitical tensions and government regulations.

The online travel agent market is segmented by service type into vacation packages; travel and accommodation. The travel market was the largest segment of the online travel agent market segmented by service type, accounting for 44.2% of the total in 2021 and going forward the accommodation market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online travel agent market, at a CAGR of 8.9%.

The online travel agent market is segmented by platform into mobile/tablet based and desktop based. The desktop based market was the largest segment of the online travel agent market segmented by platform, accounting for 64.1% of the total in 2021 and going forward the mobile/tablet based market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online travel agent market, at a CAGR of 13.4%.

The online travel agent market is segmented by category into hotel bookings, tickets and others. The hotel bookings market was the largest segment of the online travel agent market segmented by category, accounting for 44.7% of the total in 2021 and going forward the hotel bookings market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online travel agent market, at a CAGR of 8.8%.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global online travel agent market, accounting for 32.5% of the total in 2021. It was followed by Western Europe, North America and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the online travel agent market will be Asia-Pacific, and Africa, where growth will be at CAGRs of 10.4% and 8.5% respectively. These will be followed by North America and Western Europe, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 8.4% and 7.2% respectively.

The online travel agent market is highly fragmented, with a large number of players constituting the market. Major players in the market include Booking Holdings Inc., Expedia Group Inc., Trip.com Group Limited, Tripadvisor, Inc., Trivago N.V., eDreams Odigeo, Despegar, MakeMyTrip Limited, Webjet Limited, and lastminute.com NV.

The top opportunities in the online travel agent market segmented by service type will arise in the travel market segment, which will gain $145.8 billion of global annual sales by 2026. The top opportunities in the online travel agent market segmented by platform will arise in the desktop based market segment, which will gain $129.2 billion of global annual sales by 2026. The top opportunities in the online travel agent market segmented by category will arise in the hotel bookings segment, which will gain $155.6 billion of global annual sales by 2026. The online travel agent market size will gain the most in the USA at $82.7 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the online travel agent market include focus on new technology developments, new and innovative product launches, focus on offering attractive packages to the solo travelers to maximize profits, focus on customer acquisition by launching direct booking platforms, focus on improving rank on search engines to attract customers, consider investing in chatbots to improve customer experiences and consider investing in acquisitions to improve user experience and to have a wider customer base.

Player-adopted strategies in the online travel agent market include focus on investing in new product launches and strategic acquisitions and mergers to strengthen their service offerings.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the publisher recommends the online travel agent companies to focus on new technology developments, focus on new product launches, offer direct booking platforms, increase use of chatbots, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on most popular tourist destinations, offer competitive pricing, focus more on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, increase focus on social media marketing and increase focus on solo travelers.