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When the going gets tough, the tough go.. abroad. That's the plan among online travel agencies. As growth in internet travel bookings has slowed in the US, and technology makes it possible, Europe and Asia are becoming the hot destinations for these growing businesses. Online travel agency Priceline now does more business internationally than in the US. Jeff Boyd is the CEO of Priceline: SOUNDBITE: Jeff Boyd, CEO, Priceline, saying (English): "We have made a couple of acquisitions over the past few years in Europe. Active Hotels in the UK and bookings.com in Amsterdam. Active was very strong in the UK and booking was very strong in continental europe and putting these business together has created the leading online hotel reservation service in Europe" And its not just Europe-- Priceline recently acquired Asian hotel reservation service Agoda Company. Rival Expedia says the Asia Pacific market is the biggest market they are looking at, with China and India the most tempting geographic targets. Expedia has a majority stake in eLong, which provides online travel services in China. Expedia says 34 percent of its 4th quarter bookings were from international points of sale. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says having the right technology is key when doing business outside the US: SOUNDBITE: Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Expedia saying (English): " I think its about technology and the product for the user. One of the advantages that we have is that all of the great technology that we have build on a global basis originally for US users were are able to take that technology and leverage is and offer it to European users and build it once and use it all over the world" He says internet penetration in Europe is only about 30 percent.. leaving plenty of room for growth. Orbitz has focused primarily on Europe, where it recently launched a new technology platform for its e-bookers brand: CEO Steve Barnhart: SOUNDBITE: Steve Harnhart, CEO, Orbitz saying (English): " In Europe we are taking the lead by taking our disparate sites under our ebookers brand and putting them on one global platform that's enabling us to bring consumers much broader inventory and a much better site experience" The rise in traffic from these markets is expected to continue to grow at a faster pace than the US-- so the land grab will no doubt continue for some time. Bobbi Rebell, Reuters, New York.