www.buyingbusinesstravel.com
Interview The Expedia boss doesn’t think
travel buyers should be worried by the influence of new booking technologies – and his various brands – on their travellers’ behaviour. “What we’re seeing is that when
you empower people on an individual basis, they tend to actually make very good decisions, not only for themselves but also for the company,” Dara says. “So, for example, when we launch Egencia into corporations and the rate of online adoption increases, often the average prices our customers are paying for hotels go down. They do typically make the right choice for the company.” He does, however acknowledge that reviews are becoming an increasing influence on travellers’ decisions, but he believes all the data-rich information is of benefit to both traveller and buyer for making informed choices.
What we’re seeing is that when you
empower people on an individual basis, they tend to actually make very good decisions
years, Facebook can appear. That totally changed the world. We’re trying to react to the future faster than everyone else.”
REAL-TIME DATA But Dara does make some predictions. “I do think data is going to be increasingly streamed to consumers and businesses on a real-time basis on every device out there,” he says. “I’ll be able to just point my phone – or watch, or whatever – at you, and look you up, and understand everything about you and your profile. All of that data is going to be streamed real-time – I think
that’s going to have some pretty large implications.” And he sees change in the way corporate deals are made, saying the traditional, once-a-year discount negotiations will yield to a more dynamic model based on – again – real-time data. He cites the mobile-only deals that hotels load on to Egencia’s Trip Navigator app as an example. “Our data becomes a real weapon there – for the buyer and the seller,” he says. “The seller puts discounts into the marketplace during times of need – and the more discounts in the marketplace, the better off the buyers are.”
POTENTIAL FOR FRAUD What about people increasingly trading privacy for convenience or benefits, I ask. Is this a threat to corporations? Dara says corporations have to be very aware of the data standards out there, and exactly what is being shared and how. “There is the potential for fraud,” he says. “You see that in the US – there have been some very significant data breaches. As a corporation, you really have to spend time and money protecting your data from folks who want to steal it. We hire professional hackers who try to hack into our networks – we always have to be on our toes and we really invest there.” Dara says he’s a “reformed investment banker” who joined one of his big clients, legendary media mogul Barry Diller, at internet firm Interactive Corp (IAC). Diller is famous for being head of Paramount Pictures in a period when it produced classics such as the Taxi and Cheers TV series, and the film Saturday Night Fever. Diller was also CEO at Fox for several years, where he gave the green light to The Simpsons. Dara says that, at IAC, “we identified
travel as a segment, and bought up a number of big travel companies. When that business was spun off to be its own public company, Expedia Inc, I was lucky enough to be the CEO. It’s been a great ride and, hopefully, one that will keep going for a number of years. “I came into travel eight years ago, but it’s one of the most fun industries I’ve ever been a part of. I may be in travel for many years to come.” ■
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