Life in Yahoo Travel remains - in Taiwan and Hong Kong anyway

The top travel website (by traffic) in Taiwan and Hong Kong is not a global OTA, nor an airline - it is Yahoo Travel. ComScore, the web traffic measurement service, reveals more data in a study titled "China, Taiwan, Hong Kong Digital Future In Focus 2013". China has the world’s largest internet population at 347 million; Taiwan has 11.8 million online users; and Hong Kong has 4.5 million. China has a whopping 54% online population among all of APAC internet users. Hong Kong has greater representation in older age groups (40% users older than 45). On the other hand, Chinese online audience is much younger with only 20% users older than 45. Taiwan lies in the middle with a larger middle aged group of users. Travel category reach Reach of travel websites in China stands at 25.3%, Taiwan at a double 51.3%, and Hong Kong at 41.9%. While these numbers are higher than the worldwide average, it is lower compared to established markets like the US and UK. Here, “reach” is defined as the percentage of total online user base in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan. For example, 25.3% reach in China means that out of the total online population of 347 million users in China, some 25.3% visit travel websites every month.

In China, reach of travel category stands at number 17 among other category websites like auctions, automotive, games, retail etc. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, travel category stands at number three among other category websites.

Below graph shows the trend of travel category for a one year period in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The reach trend is fluctuating in Taiwan, where as in China the reach of travel websites are gradually increasing.

China - top travel websiteQunar, the country's biggest metasearch engine tops the list of most visited travel website with 28 million unique visitors per month. [Qunar recently filed for a $125 million IPO] Ctrip, China's biggest OTA stands at number two with 24 million uniques and 12306.cn, China's rail reservation website stands at number three with 19 million uniques. Only two global travel websites - Expedia and TripAdvisor - made to the top 10 list of travel websites.

Taiwan - top travel website Yahoo Travel tops the list of travel websites with two million unique visitors per month. This traffic is almost four times higher than the second popular website Backpackers.com.tw. Global OTA Priceline makes to the top ten travel sites in Taiwan with 0.4 million unique visitors per month. In terms of user engagement, THSRC.com.tw leads the list with 10.3 minutes per visitor.

Hong Kong - top travel website Yahoo Travel dominates Hong Kong market as well, with 0.4 million unique visitors per month. Interestingly, four global travel websites - Priceline, Expedia, TripAdvisor, Travelocity - makes to the top 10 travel site in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific is at number four. But, the site has the highest user engagement with 26.1 minutes spent per visitor, and this is almost 70% higher than the second highest engagement website Priceline.