Online Travel Agencies Market Share Across The World - Hotelmize

Online Travel Agencies
Market Share Across the

World
Ben Walker
The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) is one of the

most dramatic examples of the digital transformation of
business and society over the last 25 years. The travel
industry growth statistics are very favorable as well and
OTAs are taking advantage.
In a relatively short space of time, OTAs – from giants

such as Booking.com, Expedia and Trip.com to the
estimated 400 smaller players – have captured an
average of 40% of the total global travel market
(hotels, airlines, packaged tours, rail and cruises),
according to research by PATA. It is essential to know how
many people travel a year and who manages their travel
arrangements.
OTAs have evolved into digital marketplaces that connect

both B2B and B2C customers directly with a full range of
travel products. In fact, OTAs can be viewed as a hybrid
of an e-commerce platform and a travel agency.
Although OTAs have certainly taken market share from

traditional travel agents, they have not replaced them. In
many travel markets across the world, OTAs and
traditional travel agencies co-exist because they perform
different roles.
Many tourism businesses (hotel groups, tour operators,

visitor attractions etc…) will use OTAs for a percentage of
their distribution while using traditional travel agencies for
specific segments – perhaps an older demographic or
consumer groups who are less comfortable using travel
tech.
The OTA market in North America

The United States is the largest travel market in the world,
accounting for $2.1 trillion in 2019. In the same year, the
number of international tourist arrivals to the U.S. reached
nearly 80 million after being on the increase for more than
a decade. The two OTA giants, Expedia and Booking
Holdings, continue to dominate in the US,
representing 92% of the OTA market, says
Phocuswright, although US online travel agency bookings
fell sharply by 59% during 2020 as a result of the global
pandemic.
The OTA market in South America

Despegar, BestDay.com, and Price Travel are the main
OTA players in South America. OTAs are top of the list
for consumers looking for flights and accommodations in
Argentina, and for accommodation in Mexico.
On the other hand, search engines are the number one

channel to start searching for flights and accommodations
in Brazil and for flights in Mexico, says a 2020 survey.
Although South America has been particularly hard hit by

the global pandemic, one positive trend across the
region’s travel market is the continued growth of
online distribution.
Internet access is expanding significantly – Argentina

boasts a 92% internet penetration rate, while Mexico’s
mobile internet penetration jumped from 36% to 55% in
2019, second only to Uruguay in South America. As a
result, South American online travel revenue rose in 2019.
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The OTA market in Europe
Chart 1: OTA market share in Europe in 2019
Source: Statista
Booking.com is the biggest player in the European OTA

market with a 67.7% share in 2019, according to Statista.
Expedia and HRS had the second and third largest shares
of the market, at 12.8% and 6.3% respectively.
Taking a look at individual countries, the UK’s online

travel market is the largest in Europe, and the country’s
online travel penetration is among the highest in the
world, according to Phocuswright. Compared to
Continental Europe, OTAs themselves play a smaller role
in the UK market. In 2020, online supplier-direct booking
share of the total market remained at 51%, while OTA
share increased one percentage point to 18%.
In Spain, by comparison, OTAs accounted for 29.9%
of the country’s travel market, making it one of the
most popular booking distribution channels in Europe.
Spain is home to a number of successful OTAs, including
B2B bedbank Hotelbeds, which has its headquarters in
Palma de Mallorca, and eDreams and Altrapálo, both
based in Barcelona.
The OTA market in APAC

At $44.7 billion, China had the world’s second-biggest
OTA market in 2018, compared to the US at $77.1 billion,
and its 27% growth compared to 2017 was more than four
times that of the US, according to Phocuswright.
Trip.com ( formerly known as Ctrip) is the largest OTA

in China with a 36.6% share of the online travel market. In
next place comes Qunar (also owned by the Trip.com
Group) with a 16.5% share. One of the key competitors
to Trip.com’s dominance is Fliggy, which is owned by
Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant often compared
to Amazon in the west. The Chinese OTA market displays
a more competitive range of challenger players when
compared to the duopoly of Booking.com and Expedia
that exists elsewhere.
Chart 2: Popular OTAs in China

Source: Nigital 2019
Looking outside China to other east and southeast Asian

countries, MakeMyTrip, Rakuten and Recruit are the
leading OTAs in Japan and Traveloka is the dominant
player in Indonesia.
As measured by gross merchandise value, Thailand ($4b),

Indonesia ($3b) and Vietnam ($3b) are the biggest online
travel markets in the region outside China, according to
data supplied by Statista.
Chart 3: APAC online travel market scale by country

(2020)
Source: Statistica
In India, MakeMyTrip is the leading OTA. Excluding the

four major international OTAs – Booking.com, Expedia,
Airbnb and Agoda – that also operate successfully in the
Indian online travel market, the sub-continent has a
dynamic range of home-grown challenger OTAs,
including Cleartrip, Yatra, and Via.com
What are the Top online travel

agencies in the world?
Booking Holdings (formally Priceline Group), the
company that owns Booking.com, was the leading online
travel agency worldwide in 2019. Its gross sales were
$96.4 billion and EBITDA were at $5.9 billion, up 2%
compared to the previous year.
Chart 4: Booking Holdings Gross Travel Bookings

2019
Source: Booking Holdings
As previously mentioned, Booking Holdings and Expedia

dominate the global OTA market, particularly in North
America and Europe. They have succeeded in capturing
maximum market share through a series of mergers and
acquisitions making them essentially travel
conglomerates. Here is a full list of the brands owned and
operated by Expedia Group and Booking Holdings.
Chart 5: Brands owned by Expedia and Booking

Holdings
Expedia Group Booking Holdings

Expedia.com
Hotels.com
Vrbo
Egencia
Travelocity
trivago
HomeAway priceline.com
Orbitz agoda.com
hotwire booking.com
wotif KAYAK
ebookers Opentable.com
cheaptickets rentalcars.com
CarRentals.com
Classic Vacations
traveldoo
Silverrail
Tripadvisor
As standalone online businesses, based on their 2019

results, the top five OTAs in the world are:
1. Booking.com ($15.07b)
2. Expedia ($12.07b)
3. Trip.com ($5.10b)
4. Tripadvisor ($1.56b)
5. Trivago ($0.84b)
However, in terms of revenue growth, the picture was

different in 2019, with On The Beach leading the list
with the biggest increase in revenue that year:
1. On The Beach (+41%)

2. Lastminute (+20%)
3. Trip.com (+12.3%)
4. eDreams Odigeo (+8.2%)
5. Expedia (+7.5%)
Obviously, 2019 marks our final year of the ‘old normal’

before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything but
some travel industry facts show that we’re going to
witness a resurgence. You can also check out travel
industry podcasts to get more insights. Still, with vaccine
rollouts underway across the globe, it won’t be long
before we are enjoying travel again, perhaps more than
ever before!And OTAs will once again be playing their
important roles in improving customer service and
taking digital innovation forward.

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Online Travel Agencies

Market Share Across the

The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) is one of the

In a relatively short space of time, OTAs – from giants

OTAs have evolved into digital marketplaces that connect

Although OTAs have certainly taken market share from

Many tourism businesses (hotel groups, tour operators,

The OTA market in North America

The OTA market in South America

On the other hand, search engines are the number one

Although South America has been particularly hard hit by

Internet access is expanding significantly – Argentina

Are you planning to expand your business to

Hotelmize helps your growth by increasing your hotel

Booking.com is the biggest player in the European OTA

Taking a look at individual countries, the UK’s online

The OTA market in APAC

Trip.com ( formerly known as Ctrip) is the largest OTA

Chart 2: Popular OTAs in China

Looking outside China to other east and southeast Asian

As measured by gross merchandise value, Thailand ($4b),

Chart 3: APAC online travel market scale by country

In India, MakeMyTrip is the leading OTA. Excluding the

What are the Top online travel

Chart 4: Booking Holdings Gross Travel Bookings

As previously mentioned, Booking Holdings and Expedia

Chart 5: Brands owned by Expedia and Booking

Expedia Group Booking Holdings

As standalone online businesses, based on their 2019

However, in terms of revenue growth, the picture was

1. On The Beach (+41%)

Obviously, 2019 marks our final year of the ‘old normal’

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