Travolution.Co.Uk The Influential Ten Results The Influential Ten Re
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Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The Influential Ten - Results Travolution ● Home ● News ● Research ● Advisory Board ● Analysis ● Sm@rt Agent ● Subscribe ● Blog ● Advertise ● Supplier Directory Home Email a friend The Influential Ten - Results (22 September 2006) Putting together a who’s who of the most influential people in the online travel industry over the past decade was never going to be an easy task. Travolution canvassed opinion from across the industry – agents, operators, technology companies, search engines – ahead of unveiling a shortlist of 20 for the online vote. http://travolution.co.uk/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=480&PrinterFriendly=true (1 of 14)04/07/2007 11:13:43
Travolution.Co.Uk The Influential Ten Results The Influential Ten Re
1. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results Travolution Home q News q Research q
Advisory Board q Analysis q Sm@rt Agent q Subscribe q Blog q
Advertise q Supplier Directory q Home Email a friend The
Influential Ten - Results (22 September 2006) Putting together a
whos who of the most influential people in the online travel
industry over the past decade was never going to be an easy task.
Travolution canvassed opinion from across the industry agents,
operators, technology companies, search engines ahead of unveiling
a shortlist of 20 for the online vote.
http://travolution.co.uk/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=480&PrinterFriendly=true
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2. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results Rather than simply pick senior figures
who created or ran successful businesses, we wanted to recognise
the innovators and pioneers in the sector. The final 10 is, we
believe, a collection of the finest thinkers and strategists since
1996, and sometimes those just simply brave enough to try to break
new ground. It is worth remembering that this period coincided with
turbulent economic conditions a tourism sector rocked by September
11 2001 and the often well-founded cynicism of investors after the
so-called dot- com bubble burst. Perhaps most importantly they have
all had to contend with scepticism and often open hostility from
the traditional travel industry. Of course, the results of any poll
are always mildly controversial so let us know what you think.
Profiles compiled by: Juliet Dennis, Lee Hayhurst, Kevin May, Paul
Nelson and Ed Robertson Simon Breakwell, Expedia Perhaps the one
thing everyone who knows Expedia founder member Simon Breakwell
agrees upon, is just how hard it can be to track him down. However,
nobody is ever offended by such elusiveness; instead, it is seen as
a testament of his ability to focus on the job in hand while
ignoring any distractions. But concentration and focus are not
Breakwells only qualities. He is credited with the vision to make
far more of Expedia than was originally intended, especially in
Europe, and subsequently understand the commercial possibilities
and, more importantly, have the ability to realise them. Breakwell
was able to convince both airlines and hoteliers of the sites
future meaning he was able to negotiate the prices that then drove
the traffic to the site.
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3. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results However, the deals alone cannot explain
the success and growth of Expedias operations outside of the US.
Much of this is now put down to his inability to stand still. In
addition, his contemporaries also credit his eye for detail. The
site now has an ATOL allowing it to carry one million package
holidays annually in addition to 2.5 million customers purchasing
seat-only deals. Not that these are the kind of figures that matter
to Breakwell. He says: I dont think about passenger numbers. The
numbers I like are to do with leverage, marketing efficiency and
profitability. Breakwell has now quit as Expedia EMEA president and
Interactive Corp Travel Europe president and has moved to the US
where he currently awaits acceptance on the Expedia board, perhaps
with an eye on the technology side of the business. Sergey Brin and
Larry Page, Google Countless Internet biographies written about the
Google founders indicate that neither has ever worked in travel but
their search engine has perhaps had more impact on the industry
than any other development of the past 10 years. The pair created
and initially ran Google from a dorm room while studying at
Stanford University, California. Other search engines and company
directories were already on the scene as the buzz around Google
grew during 1998-99. But the real commercial interest began in 2000
when it launched its keyword advertising programme. By the end of
the year Google was processing 100 million search queries a day and
suddenly travel companies had a hugely popular new channel with
which to advertise their product. So competitive is the race to
appear as high as possible in organic listings or on the
pay-per-click sponsored links that companies have been created to
help businesses do so. The impact of Google has reinvigorated the
online advertising model and helped pave the way for the huge
renaissance in online, says Arjo Ghosh, chief executive of search
engine optimisation specialists, Spannerworks. They have helped
tear up printed brochures and have provided a platform that helps
anyone find anything, anywhere. The duo, still in their 30s, are
tight-lipped about their plans for the future, but Googles
dominance of the search market (a 75% share in the UK) means every
travel company using the web will have to follow
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4. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results developments extremely closely. However,
it seems highly unlikely that Page and Brin, who are both
officially on leave from their studies at Stanford, will be
returning to campus any time soon. Tony Cheng and Jim Donnelly,
IgoUgo Six years ago Tony Cheng and Jim Donnelly founded a new
breed of website an online community of ordinary travellers
reviews. From a loft in New York, the pair persuaded friends and
family to dig deep to raise less than half a million bucks to fund
a site featuring user-generated content. IgoUgo.com was born. The
site now has more than 200,000 members, of which around 70% are
from the US and 20% from the UK; it features more than 200,000
pictures and more than 4,000 destinations. In recent years it has
scooped a string of accolades on home turf. But its a far cry from
its launch. We didnt have financial backers, says Cheng, now
vice-president product and strategy. We got 50 to100 friends to
write for it and people heard about it through word of mouth.
Timing was not ideal either. Cheng says: It was when the bubble
burst in a big way 2000 was the worst possible time for a new
start-up. At the time, the only form of online communities were
message boards and chat rooms, and the only sites offering travel
reviews were guidebook publishers such as Lonely Planet. The
biggest decision was whether content should be by professional
writers or travellers. They chose the latter, despite the risks. We
were the first to prove real travellers could provide high-quality
information and advice about destinations worldwide, says Cheng.
They provide photos and information you cannot get from travel
agents. They are not travel journalists
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5. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results but they give you the real scoop. The
site developed a rewards scheme. Contributing writers and
photographers receive GO Points, redeemed for vouchers and
frequent-flier miles. Cheng faced a personal decision when the
company sold the site to one of the industrys largest players Sabre
Holdings 18 months ago. But going ahead with the sale is not a
choice he regrets. Barry Diller, InterActive Corp/Expedia
InterActiveCorp chairman and chief executive, and Expedia chairman,
Barry Diller, had long achieved considerable success before turning
his attention to the Internet. With a considerable background in
film and television, he has headed both the Paramount Pictures
Corporation and Fox. However, Dillers ability to spot an emerging
trend and then act on it while ensuring growth is what brings him
into the ring. In 1996 he created Silver King Communications which,
as it accumulated acquisitions, morphed first into HSN in 1996
before assuming its current name in June 2003. During this time it
made its way on to the centre stage in the industry with the
acquisition of everything from the Ticketmaster Group to Expedia
via Hotels.com, Match.com, TripAdvisor, TV Travel Shop and Ask
Jeeves. However, it is his ability to integrate the sites with one
another that has really driven him forward into the list. Ask
Jeeves, which Diller describes as having the potential to become
one of the great brands on the Internet and beyond, is a key to
this as he plans to promote the search engine through all his other
sites with a search box on each of them. Meanwhile, Ask Jeeves will
potentially earn a crust by pushing IAC transaction brands on its
own site. While he is keen push his products through one another,
his success can also be accredited to his
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6. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results willingness to allow them to flourish in
their own rights best seen when the decision was made at the end of
2004 to separate Expedia and IAC, allowing Expedia to be used by
other travel businesses while IAC focused on ticketing. While
Dillers vision is far-reaching, he is also recognised for his
ability to implement it. Contemporaries also credit this to his
ability to recognise, hire and retain the right people for the
right jobs. Bill Gates, Microsoft The Seattle-born computer
whizzkid who became the richest man on the planet, Gates has been
recognised across the business and consumer world for his
achievements as the archetypal entrepreneur of the digital age.
Some argue that without Gates overwhelmingly focused ambition to
make computers accessible to everyone, consumers would be at least
a few years behind where they find themselves now on the threshold
of an overwhelmingly digital world. Throughout most of his career
at Microsoft, the company he helped form in 1975, Gates has been at
the forefront of product strategy launching and developing
influential yet often controversial tools such as its Windows
operating system. Early versions of Windows, alongside later and
rather flashier updates, have made the world of computers and, in
turn, the Internet far more attractive to everyday consumers.
Alongside creating a significant proportion of the software
consumers now use to find travel products on the Internet, Gates
helped create a certain online travel agency in 1996 called Expedia
the model for which has been copied by countless other sites ever
since. The explosion of the online travel industry in the past 10
years is a great example of how the Internet and home computing
revolution, of which Bill Gates was at the fore, has changed our
lifestyles beyond recognition, says a Microsoft official. Although
Gates is due to divert much of his attention to his philanthropic
activities from 2008, Microsoft
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7. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results with him continuing to act as a key
advisor on major products will almost certainly continue to leave
its mark on the online world. We hope the innovations Microsoft is
continuing to drive from the new generation of business and
productivity software, to the next raft of web services and devices
will continue to feed back into the travel industry to promote ever
better customer experience and more effective business practices.
Mark Jones, Online Travel Company Mark Jones claims the Online
Travel Corporation is the firm behind the single most important
invention for the online travel industry dynamic packaging. True or
not, Jones is certainly a pioneer of the dynamic packaging
revolution. What isnt in doubt is the quality of OTCs technology,
which encouraged online travel giant Lastminute.com to part with 55
million to acquire the company in 2004. However, Jones decision to
pursue a white-label business strategy allowing other companies to
overbrand his technology makes him the least well-known of online
travels pioneers. The companys success has seen it power a number
of the industrys top websites, including Thomson, since Jones
co-founded OTC in 1998. Its technology is currently behind 80 of
the countrys best-known websites including Thomas Cook and
Cheapflights. Jones, who ran his own travel industry chartered
accountancy business, co-founded OTC after growing tired of seeing
his clients refuse to take his advice and invest in web technology.
I was frustrated my clients wouldnt build new technology systems,
nor did they see the web as a distribution mechanism, he says. In
2001 the company launched its Build-Your-Own technology and its
fortunes took off. Dynamic packaging really changed things as it
allows consumers to do what only travel agents could, Jones says.
It was not a stroke of genius but common sense. Airlines were
giving travel agents net rates so they could package them up, while
customers were demanding flexibility, but the systems were not
available.
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8. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results Its pursuit of the white-labelling
strategy is the real secret behind Jones and OTCs success. The
strategy means the company hasnt had to plough millions into
developing a consumer brand and can continue to invest in its
technology. Lastminute.com was in discussions for more than a year
before it acquired OTC ironically stumbling across the company
through its powering of deadly rival Expedia. Brent Hoberman and
Martha Lane-Fox, Lastminute.com Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane-Fox
rocked the travel industry to its foundations with the launch of
Lastminute.com in 1998. Not only did they use the Internet as an
alternative distribution mechanism to travel agencies and call
centres, but they encouraged holidaymakers to book at the very last
moment flying in the face of the traditional offline industrys bid
to maximise margins by getting consumers to book as early as
possible. Their enthusiasm and charisma encouraged suppliers to
give us deals that other agencies couldnt get. We were telling
suppliers even if it didnt work, Lastminute.com is an important
experiment they will learn a lot from, says Hoberman, who is now
part-time chairman of the company. Hobermans and Lane-Foxs ability
to create such a powerful brand put the company at the forefront of
the brave new online travel world, while the companys flotation in
2000 22% of the company for 113.5 million, valuing Lastminute.com
at a massive 571.3 million made them major protagonists of the
dot-com boom. The agency grew rapidly, splashing out 39.7 million
and 16.1 million deals for Holiday Autos and Med Hotels
respectively. Travelocity bought the company for 577 million in
2005 5.7 million more than the flotation valuation. Ironically,
Hoberman fears its success in establishing the online agency as a
major player in the wider
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9. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results travel industry could hinder the brands
core value innovation. When Lastminute.com launched it was the
outsider of the industry, he explains. We are not as much of an
outsider as I would like us to be as its easier to innovate when
you are on the outside. Stelios Haji-Ioannou, EasyJet Stelios, the
London School of Economics graduate and 39-year-old son of a
wealthy shipping magnate, is one of few businessmen, never mind
human beings, who can proudly boast they have joined the likes of
Pele, Madonna and Jesus in the list of people universally known by
a single name. And for a businessman to achieve that suggests there
is far more substance behind his success than a nepotistic leg up
from the start. However, even he concedes the importance of the
Stelios brand and a little self promotion. I am not sure who voted
but its probably higher name recognition than other more important
players, he says of his selection as an online travel pioneer. Name
recognition extends to his empire of businesses. There can hardly
be a person living in the UK who, after EasyJet was launched in
1997 when Stelios was a youthful 28, would not recognise the
corporate orange of the EasyGroup. The most crucial business
decision I made when starting out was to discount 5 to those who
booked online at EasyJet in 1998, said Stelios. Like Richard
Branson and Freddie Laker before him, Stelios was the latest
airline entrepreneur to believe he could take on the giant of
British Airways and arguably, by embracing the Internet as a form
of distribution, he has scored most direct hits. EasyJet is now
Europes largest low-cost carrier, with a fleet of 100 jets that
welcomed 30 million passengers on board in 2005. Stelios is now a
household name but he is well aware of the fickle nature of
success. If I had my time again I would have exercised more caution
at the speed of rolling out some of my
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Influential Ten - Results ventures during the dot-com bubble years.
Luckily, I survived to tell the tale, he says. Steve Kaufer and
Langley Steinert, TripAdvisor TripAdvisor has been publishing
user-generated content since 2000 years before the online travel
industry started fawning over the benefits of reproducing unbiased
reviews of hotels or destinations. Kaufer and Steinert created the
website with the help of handful of like-minded and clever friends
from the IT industry, and grew the company from an office above a
pizza parlour in the US. The concept was hardly revolutionary allow
users to tell others about their visit to a hotel but the site
caught the imagination of consumers already becoming cynical about
the reliability of information they found on the Internet from
existing accommodation providers. Volume has been the key to
TripAdvisors success. The site now boasts five million reviews and
regularly attracts around 20 million users a month, with revenue
gained from on-site advertising and referrals. Its founders have
always claimed they can actually help the hotel industry perform
better. Although the process is not foolproof, systems are in place
behind the scenes to spot malicious activity and hotels have the
right to reply. Nevertheless, the philosophy is actually rather
simple: if a consumer highlights a problem in a hotel, fix it
chances are subsequent reviews will turn out to be positive. Kaufer
is modest about TripAdvisors achievements. We didnt invent the
concept [of review websites], he says. We took it up a notch and
developed the opinionated user-generated content that became the
best way to support it. There were other travel content sites on
the web, but we built it around the adventures of the public. As
well as inspiring a generation of travellers to become regular
reviewers, TripAdvisor caught the imagination of online travel
giant Expedia, which bought the company in 2004.
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11. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results Michael OLeary, Ryanair Ryanair
introduced Europe to budget flying and will carry 35 million
passengers this year a far cry from the 5,000 it ferried between
Ireland and mainland UK in 1985. Michael OLeary is fierce when
defending its business model against attacks from
environmentalists, politicians, rival airlines and the traditional
travel trade alike. OLeary has never tried to hide his contempt
from anyone who questions his right to sell airline seats as
cheaply as possible and, of course, paying commission to a third
party was always going to be an unnecessary drain on resources that
would be avoided at all costs. Ryanair, along with the likes of
EasyJet, has been at the vanguard of making travel, along with porn
and gambling, one of the most profitable and patronised retail
sectors online and this is why high-street travel agents have
demonised people like OLeary, who have led the revolution. Also
into race horses, rugby and farming, OLearys story is not one of
those rags to riches tales so often associated with entrepreneurs
who champion the rights of the less well off to enjoy the trappings
of a more affluent existence. Now estimated to be worth 300
million, the 44-year-old married father of one had a privileged
start in life, attending the Irish equivalent of Eton, Clongowes
Wood College and then Trinity College, Dublin, before graduating as
an accountant, advising on tax with KPMG. It was at school that he
met the sons of millionaire Tony Ryan, who would in 1998 employ him
as a financial advisor for his fledgling Ryanair airline, then
operating between Waterford and Gatwick. In 1993 he was made chief
operating officer and everything was in place for Ryanair to join
EasyJet in pioneering the online no-frills airline revolution. Who
else was on the shortlist? Pierre Chappaz and Dominique Vidal,
Kelkoo
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12. Travolution.co.uk - The Influential Ten - Results - The
Influential Ten - Results Bob Deiner and Dave Litman, Hotels.com
Dinesh Dhajima, Ebookers John Hatt, Cheapflights David Filo and
Jerry Yang, Yahoo! Terry Jones, Travelocity Andy Philips and Adrian
Critchlow, Active Hotels Simon Talling-Smith, BA.com Jay Walker,
Priceline Alex Zoghlin, Orbitz Email a friend Back to top
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