Skift Forum Europe: Skyscanner's CEO Is Looking Beyond Scale
Skift Take
Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams is the rare Western executive to have played his cards right in China, in light of the successful recent sale to Chinese giant Ctrip of the price-comparison company he co-founded. Williams' next bets for growth are on voice-activated Internet search, instant booking for airlines, and mobile-first transactions in Asia.
On April 4 in London, hundreds of the travel industry’s brightest and best will gather in London for the first Skift Forum Europe 2017. In only a few short years Skift's Forums — the largest creative business gatherings in the global travel industry — have become what media, speakers, and attendees have called the “TED Talks of travel.”
This year’s event at Tobacco Dock in London will feature speakers including CEOs and top executives from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Norwegian Air, Google, Lonely Planet, Momondo Group, and many more.
The following is part of a series of posts highlighting some of the speakers and touching on issues of concern in Europe and beyond.
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Gareth Williams is in a great mood these days, only a couple of months after having successfully sold Skyscanner to Chinese online travel giant Ctrip in a £1.4 billion (or $1.74 billion) deal.
As co-founder of Edinburgh-based Skyscanner — one of the world’s largest travel price-comparison search startups — Williams is currently focused on global expansion for his company, which already has 800 employees across 10 offices. Fresh funding will further fuel the company's growth, as Williams told Skift recently in an interview about the Ctrip acquisition and the future of metasearch.
We recently caught up with Williams to suss out his views on the broader trends in technology and startup innovation he needs to stay on top of his job.
Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams will be speaking about the future of hospitality at the Skift Forum Europe 2017 on April 4 in London.
Skift: If instant booking (where users book travel without leaving the Skyscanner interface) is so great, why
