Certares Founder on the Ease of Investing in Travel During a Pandemic
Photo Credit: Certares Founder Greg O'Hara (right) in discussion with Skift Founder Rafat Ali at Skift Global Forum on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 Skift
Skift Take
It is certainly an attractive time for private equity firms to invest in travel companies under pressure, but picking winners is never a slam dunk.
It's an investor's market during the fits and starts of the Covid pandemic, and the easiest time to invest in travel.
That's the view of Greg O'Hara, founder and senior managing director of Certares, the private equity firm that owns Internova Travel Group, has a joint venture with American Express in their business travel unit, and recently helped lead Hertz out of bankruptcy.
In an online interview Wednesday with Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali, who was presentat Skift Global Forum 2021 in Queens, New York, O'Hara said his company sometimes fields 5-10 calls per week from CEOs looking for investments.
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