Asia's Internet-based travel market, including in Japan, is growing rapidly and the world's largest online travel agency said Tuesday it wants to cultivate it further.

"The travel market in this part of the world, in Asia including Japan, is now about to the point where it's almost as big as the United States or Europe, and it is growing much faster than any of these other markets," said Scott Durchslag, who oversees the worldwide Expedia brand business at U.S.-based Expedia Inc., during a media event in Tokyo.

He said that for Japan he wants to expand bolstered hotel-airline combination tours and 24/7 telephone customer support.