I was first introduced to Hugo Burge by Rod Cuthbert. It was sometime 2011. Rod said to me, “You know that debate you run, you need someone English to do it, someone who can do a proper debate in proper English.”
In the end, Hugo did not take part in the debate – he was way too gentle a soul for that feisty clash of wills – but he became a fixture on the WiT stage for several years after as he started expanding in the region, particularly after Momondo Group raised £80 million valuing the company at more than £132 million in 2014.
Hugo Burge speaking at WiT Singapore in 2014
On the WiT stage that year, he told me of his plans to grow the business. “Asia is growing fast, and is a big market to tap. China is interesting and response is good. We launched the app and just within 24 hours there were 120,000 downloads.”
He spoke of Momondo’s competitive edge, beyond product and pricing. “We’re passionate about our work, we live and breathe our brands to make a difference.”
And he lived up to his word of “making a difference”.
His success as an entrepreneur is well documented and respected – how he rose from CEO of Cheapflights Media in May 2010 to acquiring the Danish meta search site, momondo, creating Momondo Group which was eventually sold, along with cheapflights, to Priceline Group for $550m in 2017 – but it will be for his kindness, gentle spirit and love for humanity that friends will remember him.
I recall when we held our first WiT Europe in July 2017. Britain had just voted to leave the EU the month before and we couldn’t help but reflect on the irony of our debut European event being held that year.
But Hugo encouraged us. He said we couldn’t have picked a better time because the British travel trade needed to get together to affirm their faith in travel as well as an open world during such uncertain times.
Hugo Burge speaking at the first WiT Europe in 2017, remaining steadfast to his mission of “opening up the world”.
And who can forget the Momondo’s DNA Journey Youtube video, released in June that year when 67 people were asked to take the DNA test and found they were more similar than different. He said the video, which had by then gathered hundreds of millions of views, could also not have happened at a more poignant time. “Our mission remains to open our world,” he said steadfastly.
After he made his exit from the industry, we stayed in touch and he kept me current on his plans to restore Marchmont House which he had bought and how he wanted to create a place for makers and creators to gather. His Instagram posts were seldom about himself but of the art and artists he had gathered and supported. Sometimes, though, he would be photographed beaming and smiling, fresh from a walk in the Scottish highlands.
In a tribute to Hugo, who died on Wednesday, BBC Scotland arts correspondent Pauline McLean wrote, “His vision for Marchmont House in the Borders was an ambitious one. As well as restoring the Palladian mansion as “a home for makers and creators in the Scottish Borders”, he established a network of studios, and encouraged artists of all kinds, to use Marchmont as a work space.
“The house and its surroundings soon filled up with art and artists. From revived crafts like rush seated chairs, to modern sculptures, he gathered it all. And he gathered people too, for conversations and celebrations of the arts and crafts he so valued.”
His family said, “Hugo’s kindness, intelligence, curiosity and belief in a better world made him an inspiration to us all.”
Hugo was a geographer and so he was particularly “blown away” (his words) by the sheer size and scope of Asia. I am glad he made his foray into my neck of the woods. He made a difference to my world, and now it’s a little bit darker.
I once asked him how he deals with uncertainty and all the noise out there, and he said, “Keep your eye on the horizon and take small steps.”
I can imagine Hugo doing just that.
