Proving that there’s never a dull moment in travel, while WIT Indonesia was happening inside the ballroom of Grand Nikko Bali yesterday, these things happened in the world outside.
One, China’s HNA Group, which is on its path to building a global travel empire, buys Carlson Hotels Inc., owner of the Radisson and Country Inns & Suites chains, for an undisclosed sum. The purchase includes Carlson’s majority stake in Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel Group, which is publicly listed in Stockholm and manages more than 1,400 hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Two, TUI’s Hotelbeds was finally sold for Euro $1.2 billion to two buyers – Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Whatever you think of the price, it shows that private equity investment houses are showing a huge appetite for travel.
The latest Hotelbeds’ financials for the year-ending-in-September show a total transaction value of Euro 3,657 million, turnover of Euro 1,059 million and underlying EBITDA of Euro 69 million. Its gross assets at signing are worth Euro 1,338 million.
Three, Rakuten Travel led a Series A funding round of US$5 million in tour booking software startup, Xola, extending its reach into this hot space in travel. In Asia, Rakuten Travel bought Voyagin, a Japan-based startup focused on Japan and Indonesia. At WIT Indonesia, Stephen Joyce, CEO of Rezgo, estimated this space to be worth a $100 billion potential in APAC compared to $20 billion in the US and $40 billion in Europe.
Four, closer to home, Indonesia-based Nida Rooms, which has a similar model to Indian startup Oyorooms, which has raised $225.65 million in five rounds from seven investors, raised US$4.2 million in a funding round led by Convergence Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures.
Nida Rooms is currently in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia and says it has over 3,100 rooms online. Kaneswaran Avili, CEO and co-founder, said the cash would be used to further expand its business in Indonesia and South-east Asia.
Huston: An ignominious end to a sterling career at Priceline
But the biggest news of all was that of Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston’s immediate exit over a breach of code of conduct with an employee, a piece of news that I found first shocking, then sad for the implications for him and his family.
In a press release sent yesterday, the company said, “Mr. Huston resigned following an investigation overseen by independent members of the Board of Directors of the facts and circumstances surrounding a personal relationship that Mr. Huston had with an employee of the Company who was not under his direct supervision.
“The investigation determined that Mr. Huston had acted contrary to the Company’s Code of Conduct and had engaged in activities inconsistent with the Board’s expectations for executive conduct, which Mr. Huston acknowledged and for which he expressed regret.”
In the time he led Booking.com and later the Priceline Group, after the retirement of Jeffrey Boyd, Huston was admired and respected by his team. With a solid team behind him, he’s led the group successfully to solid growth, holding it together while it expanded and scaled across the world.
It’s an ignominious end to a sterling career at Priceline that’s seen him rise through Microsoft and Starbucks to lead the world’s largest travel group but, beyond that, personally devastating to him and his family.
Boyd, a 16-year veteran with Priceline Group, has returned as interim CEO while a new successor is found and Gillian Tans, who’s been with Booking.com since 2002 and was named President in January 2015, steps in as CEO.e
The group has been quick to assure the market that things are firmly under control. There is no denying though that this news will rock the company that, as big as it is, is run like a series of small businesses and is watched and admired for its ability to execute with precision and humility.
Through his personable style, Huston put a human face onto a company that recorded US$55.5b in transaction value last year. While it is true no one is indispensable, Huston will be missed but what this proves that in the world of corporate governance, no one gets away with anything less than squeaky clean conduct. If only this were true in politics …
Now all we can do is wish Huston well as he picks up the ashes of his life.
