Expedia Inc. launched a hotel booking site
for consumers in Japan, entering a market that could be a tough one
for new entrants.
The new Expedia
Japan Web site, at www.expedia.co.jp, offers inventory from 30,000
properties around the world, and is supported by Japanese language
telephone and e-mail customer service.
Site features
include professional reviews, traveler ratings, Expedia star
ratings and virtual tours of hotel rooms and facilities.
"Japan represents
the second largest travel market in the world and is an extremely
important part of Expedia's long-term growth strategy," stated
Barney Harford, president of Expedia Asia Pacific. "We are
delighted to be entering Japan and are committed to making the
long-term investments required for success in this
market."
Expedia Japans
enters a market that is driven by package tour operators, and where
online bookings of air travel lags consumers' penchant for booking
hotels online. Another challenge is credit card penetration, with
about 20% of online leisure travel bookers in Japan not owning a
credit or debit card, according to Forrester Research.
However, Expedia
stated that Japanese consumers are the heaviest users of Expedia.com, the U.S.
Web site, apart from North American customers.
Expedia Japan
intends to launch air bookings and dynamic packages "in the
future," the company said.
"There are no
guarantees that Expedia will succeed, of course," notes Forrester's
principal analyst of travel research, Henry Harteveldt. "But it
appears they've taken steps to make their Japanese site culturally
relevant. And, it's no surprise they're starting with hotels.
That's one of Expedia's product strengths, and a product that is
also more lucrative financially for them than air."
To
contact reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].