Speakers

Is there someone that you absolutely must hear from, or an online leader you need to meet? The please let me know by emailing me at tom@eyefortravel.com.


  • Ignacio Martos, Chief Executive Officer, Opodo
    Ignacio Martos was appointed CEO of Opodo in December 2006 and is based in Opodo´s London office. In 2007 Opodo had EUR 1.3 billion in gross sales and reached its first net profit of EUR6.6 million. Before joining Opodo, Martos started Rumbo in 2000 and spent the next seven years as CEO at the online travel agency, which is a market leader in Spain and Latin America. Under his stewardship Rumbo fast became one of the Spanish online travel industry´s big success stories and reached profitability in 2004.
    Martos studied law at the University of Seville and gained an MBA at IESE Business School, which is also in Spain.

    Online is a growing channel since the launch, it has been taking market share from the high street since its very beginning. The decrease in the growing pace during recent years may lead to the conclusion that maturity is coming to this channel and there will be a “status quo” for both channels to be reached soon. Is that true? What are the main factors pushing the clients migration? Are new waves to come? There are still many unanswered questions about this matter and we will try to cover some of the facts that are affecting todays consumer behaviour.


  • Glen Fogel, Managing Director Corporate Development and International, Priceline
    Mr. Fogel joined Priceline.com in February 2000 and is responsible for all of the firm´s acquisitions and strategic transactions. He has been a key figure in Priceline´s international program and has led all transactions since the first deal in September 2004. Through this program, Priceline has become the leading online seller of hotels outside North America. Mr. Fogel is a member of the Board of Directors of all of Priceline.com´s international subsidiaries, including Europe-based Booking.com and Asia-based Agoda.

    The problem one faces when planning to enter a relatively immature but rapidly growing market is figuring out which model will be successful over the long term. The history of business is filled with the wreckage of companies that ignored the local environments and tried to force models from one particular geography into another. However, one of the complicating factors in choosing an online travel model for the APAC region is the economies and cultures are transforming as rapidly as the travel business itself. Therefore, the question is which local environment should one try to match: the current environment or the one that will arrive five years hence? I plan to address the issue of how does one create a strategy when all factors are changing at once.


  • Dick Porter, Chairman, STA Travel Group (panel)
    Dick Started STA Travel in the seventies and grew it to a US$1.2bn organization employing 2600 people in over 90 countries. Now on the STA Travel board he devotes his time to finding and funding start-ups that could replicate such massive growth.

  • Ed Kamm, Chief Operating Officer, lastminute.com
    Ed is Chief Operating Officer at lastminute.com, with responsibility for Europe-wide product strategy, development and optimisation across all product categories, offline sales and customer care, portfolio management, and transformation programmes. Ed moved to the UK and joined lastminute.com in August 2005, after serving as Chief Financial Officer and General Manager, Sales and Customer Care for Travelocity since 2003. Ed has been with lastminute.com´s parent company, Sabre Holdings since 1994 in various financial and operating roles.

  • Keyur Joshi, Chief Operating Officer, MakemyTrip
    Keyur is a co founder of MakeMyTrip & part of the MakeMyTrip strategic think tank. His primary responsibilities are sales, business development and strategy for MakeMyTrip. He was instrumental in creating the online travel market in India in 2005. He also oversees MakeMyTrip´s US business and looks after the retail initiatives.
    He is closely associated with technology and has played an important role in the technological evolution of MakeMyTrip.
    Prior to MakeMyTrip, Keyur has worked in the US with a traditional travel consolidator and had a stint with India´s largest Automobile Company - Tata Motors.

  • Marc Charron, Managing Director, Europe, TripAdvisor
    Marc Charron is responsible for leading TripAdvisor's rollout of local language sites and managing operations across Europe. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, Charron served as vice president of product marketing at SquareTrade, Inc. in San Francisco. Before SquareTrade, Charron served as managing director of QXL.com, Getz International Travel and Danube Travel, all based in London. Charron began his travel career in 1991 with Carlson Travel in Vienna. He received a bachelor's degree from Trinity University in Texas and spent a year abroad studying at the London School of Economics.

  • Greg Webb, Chief Marketing Officer, Sabre
    Greg Webb leads global marketing initiatives for two of the travel industry´s most successful brands-Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions.
    As Chief Marketing Officer for the two companies Webb is responsible for a broad range of duties, from worldwide marketing business planning to customer marketing and communications. He also oversees travel merchandising solutions development, advertising management and execution, brand strategy deployment and portfolio management. Finally, Webb directs all supplier relationships with hoteliers, ground transportation companies, cruise lines and tour providers.
    Previously, Webb was Senior Vice President of Global Product Marketing for Sabre Holdings, managing the product and technology portfolio across multiple business units, with responsibility for the origination, design and delivery of the company´s product solutions.

    Seemingly countless technologies are converging within the online travel marketplace, delivering new ways for Generation Y (and the rest of us) to experience travel. In this new landscape, what I call iWorld, one fundamental remains-travel is still all about the destination. But the overall experience is now driven by technology. In iWorld, the rise of User-Generated Content, where everyone is an expert, is driven by tag clouds, content mash-ups and social networking. Yet no matter how dramatically these online technologies change the process of travel, and no matter how adaptive this new generation of travelers is, people still need people, as well as partners they can rely on, and trust to tap the potential of any and all emerging, relevant, meaningful technologies.


  • Dhruv Shringi, Founder and Executive Director, Yatra

    Dhruv returns to India after 8 years in Europe. His most recent role prior to co-founding Yatra was as Director Group Operations and Technology of the eBookers Group where he was responsible for sales over $850 million achieved through multi-channels including online, call centres and retail shops. With regard to technology, he was accountable for developing the IT strategy and for leading the technology development of infrastructure teams of some 150 employees and over 13 locations. He was also instrumental in leading the operational integration of key acquisition by eBookers.


  • Paul Brown, President of Partner Services Group and Expedia North America, Expedia
    Paul Brown leads both Expedia´s global Partner Services Group (PSG) and Expedia North America. As the president of PSG, Brown is responsible for managing supplier relationships across all global points of sale for Expedia, Inc. As the head of Expedia North America, Brown is responsible for the Expedia points of sale in North America, as well as overseeing Worldwide Travel ExchangeŽ, Destination Services, and the Expedia business operations group. Prior to Expedia, Brown was a partner at McKinsey & Company. Based in London, Brown was a leader of the global travel and hospitality practice group where he served clients in all sectors of the travel and hospitality industry. Previously, Brown was senior vice president of strategic services with Intercontinental Hotels Group.

    Now is a time of change, and even uncertainty, for the travel industry. Rising fuel costs, tightening credit markets and other global economic challenges are impacting travelers, and therefore travel suppliers. Yet despite the issues facing travel, suppliers can weather the storm and identifynew opportunities if they are willing to embrace change. In this session, Paul Brown will address trends in global traveler behavior and offer strategic insights for navigating the current environment.


  • Alex Thomson, Director of Information Technology, Travelodge
    Alex has been Director of IT at Travelodge since January 2007 and has been instrumental in their online strategy. Previously he worked as International Supply Chain Director at DSG International.

  • Steven Greenway, Chief Commercial Officer, SkyEurope Airlines
    Steven Greenway is Chief Commercial Officer for SkyEurope Airlines a.s. with responsibility for all of SkyEurope´s commercial activities including Network Planning, Revenue Management, Sales and Marketing, Product and Commercial Systems. Reporting directly to SkyEurope´s CEO, Steven is also on the airline´s Executive Board.
    Prior to joining SkyEurope, Steven was Head of E-Commerce for Virgin Blue with responsibility for all of Virgin Blue´s E-Commerce activities including online sales, ancillary revenue, online marketing and Virgin Blue´s wholesale programme, Blue Holidays.
    Steven initially started his career in the air transport industry as a graduate with Qantas before moving to the UK to become an aviation consultant for PricewaterHouse (PwC) Consulting and then as Head of Sales and Distribution Strategy for Virgin Atlantic prior to joining Virgin Blue in 2005.

  • Alan Josephs, Managing Director, eBookers.com
    Alan Josephs is responsible for running all ebookers business operations across 13 European countries. This includes the Mr. Jet brand in Sweden and Denmark. Alan took over as the MD for ebookers in March 2006.
    Prior to his role at ebookers.com, Alan was responsible for the vacation packaging, cruise and destination services business units for the Orbitz and CheapTickets online travel brands in the United States and the NEAT private label packaging product.
    Before joining Orbitz in 2003, Alan spent ten years working in a variety of product, marketing and general management roles at Travelocity.com, Global Vacation Group and Iomega Corporation.