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WTM LONDON TERRY JONES


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In a standing room only session, Travelocity.com founder Terry Jones explored innovation and culture in the travel market.


TERRY JONES


Best known for founding Travelocity.com and serving as founding Chairman of Kayak.com, Terry


Jones has become a powerful voice in the world of entrepreneurship through his numerous speaking engagements and the publication of his book, ON Innovation. His career path has established him as a thought leader on innovation in our increasingly digital world. A graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Jones, began his career as a travel agent, spent 24 years at American Airlines in marketing and information technology, capping his career as Chief Information Officer of its SABRE division. While at SABRE he led a team of six working on a project that became Travelocity. com. Jones served as CEO of Travelocity for seven years transforming it to a public company with three billion dollars in travel sales. He left Travelocity when the company was taken private and became part of the founding team at Kayak.com, a company that yet again revolutionized how travel was purchased. He served as Chairman of the company from its founding until it was sold to Priceline for $1.8 billion dollars in 2013. Today he is the Chairman of


WayBlazer and managing principal of consultancy firm ON Inc.


During a Travel Perspective session, travel industry innovator and Chairman of Wayblazer, Terry Jones, pointed to companies such as Uber, Facebook and Alibaba which don’t own assets themselves but trade on the back of other people’s assets. Jones said that while established companies see these players as disruptors, they see themselves as innovators who are all about “less capital and more speed.” Take risks and own the edge was the advice from Jones on the opening day of the Travel Tech Show at WTM London. Addressing the audience, he said: “You may have the customers and the assets but maybe you’re not easy to do business with. Don’t let these companies steal your lunch. Figure out how to own the assets and own the edge.”


He pointed to navigation specialist


Waze as an example of a company which has figured out how to use the edge by selling products to drivers


34 WTM London Review 2017


when they’re stuck in congestion. Amazon is another good example with its Amazon Dash buttons enabling consumers to reorder products when they are running out.


Jones went on to tip artificial intelligence as potentially the user interface of the future as it gets better at understanding, organizing, learning and offering advice when it comes to what consumers want.


He also said voice is the biggest disruption he’s currently seeing and added that it would turn the world upside down again.


Speaking about innovation, Jones said he believed, “The problem with innovation in most companies is that most people are afraid to go for it. They are scared of change. “I believe that the engine of innovation rests on two pillars. The pillar of culture. And the pillar of team. If you get culture and team right you put the gas in the tank of innovation. “Culture is extremely important. Culture eats strategy for lunch!”


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