At the WIT Conference last year in Singapore, we recognised 11 individuals whom we felt have had the most influence on the development of online travel in Asia Pacific. This is the sixth article in a series of interviews profiling the WIT Warriors.
As one of the first APAC-based heads for Priceline Group, Adrian Currie was part of the early tribe that shaped and influenced the evolution of online travel in the region. He championed the group’s interests in APAC, at a time when it wasn’t very well known, and he brought his sure and steady influence to the business as it grew. Each year, he brought his experience and expertise to WIT conferences and, from the start, maintained there shouldn’t be a divide between online and offline travel but there should just be this one world of travel.
Today, as senior vice president of corporate development of the Priceline Group, he is focused on M&A and investments in APAC. The group has invested around $5 billion in corporate development over last two years and these investments have ranged from $1billion+ public market takeovers to $1million+ investments in private, high-growth companies.
Adrian Currie: I’d like to bring a few more investments into the group from APAC.
Q: Tell us your first memory of the Internet and what your thinking was at the time.
I’m not sure it’s my first experience of the Internet but my most abiding memory of the ‘90’s is using a dial-up modem to connect to the Internet and to email. Switching on the device, hitting dial, listening to what seemed like an eternity of screeching and pinging noises, and watching the lights flashing endlessly, just to get a very slow internet connection. Oh and being cut off at random intervals too! Nonetheless, the potential transformations of communications, content and collaboration by the Internet were huge.
Q: Do you recall your first email? Who was it to?
My first memory of e-communications outside a work network was when I was doing my MBA at London Business School. The Internet was a great way to keep in touch with classmates, to access research, books and case studies, and to share information. In particular, it made collaborating on team projects so much easier with your study group colleagues who were often away from campus with work and home trips.
Q: What was the first thing you bought online?
My memory is terrible. But almost certainly a book from Amazon!
Q: What was the first thing you sold online?
A hotel room!
Q: How did you venture into online travel as an industry? What motivated you?
I entered the online travel industry in 2002 when I joined Active Hotels as CFO. It was one of those chance connections when I was introduced to the CEO & Co-Founder at the time he wanted to scale the financial activities of the organisation. I then had chance to meet the management team, Board and investors, and thought they’d be a great group to work with. I saw a huge opportunity for an intermediary [OTA] to add lots of value in the highly fragmented hotel industry in Europe by providing independent hotels with a platform that aggregated distribution and marketing on the Internet.
Q: What were the earlier challenges you faced when you first entered the business and how did you overcome them? (Cite 3 challenges)
- Overcoming the “death valley” cash flow position [revenues being less than costs and investments] for our early-stage company, particularly in a high growth phase. We became cash flow positive in Year 4 primarily by improving our systems and communications with hotels and collecting almost all our commissions on time rather than the many months overdue in the early days.
- Limited brand recognition and understanding of our “agency” [guest pays at hotel] model. This was especially so when trying to negotiate affiliate partnerships with established/traditional players even though we felt we had better conversion, commercials and product offering, we found it hard to close these deals in the early days without a recognised brand. So initially we focused on the more entrepreneurial, financially-driven website partners to provide additional distribution for our hotel partners.
- Deciding on the right balance between investing in expanding to new markets versus growing our core markets with a more immediate ROI. You never know if you got the balance exactly right! But you have to allocate execution and innovation resources in both areas to prevent yourself being eventually limited to one fixed space in a dynamic and competitive marketplace.
Q: What was the first major milestone/success achieved? How did you celebrate?
We had many milestones along the way which all felt significant at the time not least of which was when we set a new daily booking record. We had a screen in the office showing bookings through the day and forecasting the end of day result – it was captivating! However, selling Active Hotels for $161m to Priceline in September 2004, almost 5 years from start-up, was the first reported milestone. We celebrated with a party for all 150 colleagues and their families at the home of one of the founders. It was a great party!
Q: What’s been the biggest change in the online travel world in the last decade?
Adapting to a multi-screen world. In early days, the profile of bookings was heavily influenced by the working day and access to a PC at work. Today, consumers are engaging with your sites and apps more frequently, browsing more throughout the day and completing a booking in different ways and times. Mobile has also enabled last-minute, in-destination bookings too.
Q: What do you forsee will be the biggest change to come in the next decade?
We’ll look back in 10 years and wonder how we coped with such a “basic” travel experience for consumers in 2014. A lot of the technology legacy still around today (the “plumbing”) will have been replaced or dramatically improved and more of the focus will be on customer experience and benefits. Your trusted OTA/airline/hotel brands will communicate with you much more in real-time, like a friend you are travelling with would, and less as a transactional, commercial relationship.
Q: Do you think online travel is a force for good? How does it make travel better? How does it make the world better?
Yes, a force for good. Consumers all over the world now have instant access to so much more choice, content and transparency when they travel than 10 years ago. For accommodation, especially regional, independent properties, there is now a level playing field for global distribution where a well-run hotel can secure a strong pipeline of bookings for their hotel from top rankings on platforms such as Agoda and Booking.com.
Q: Businesses are built by teams. Every team has a rock star and a steward. Are you the rock star or steward? If you are the rock star, who’s your steward, the one behind the scenes making things happen. If you are the steward, to whom are you the steward?
I’m fortunate to have worked with a number of “rock stars” over the years but it’s the team, and all the skillsets and experience they bring, that ultimately determines the success and sustainability of a business. We’ve been fortunate that our culture encourages individual responsibility in a team environment and has a light management approach that allows everyone to perform to their potential and be a “rock star”. That being said, I think the team that brought together the Bookings and Active Hotels businesses under the Booking.com brand and scaled it from a European focus to global leadership position delivered a “rock star” performance.
Q: If you could give an award, what award would it be and to whom would you give it?
I’d give an award to all those brave and entrepreneurial folks who have set up a new market from scratch for us especially in the early days in APAC in 2007 onwards when we set the foundations for our sizeable business today.
Q: Who were your earliest influencers, the ones who inspired you?
I’ve was fortunate in my early career in corporate finance with Ernst & Young to interact with many talented people across many client organisations in various industry sectors. I was influenced by the many individuals I came across for a range of capabilities from strategic thinking to negotiation skills, communication styles to business savvy, and customer focus to team building. As you develop your career you take the best examples from the best – I don’t believe there’s one person out there who can do everything! More recently, I’ve had the chance to work alongside some great leaders within the Priceline Group, all of whom have been inspiring to work with and have in some way influenced the way I think about business.
Q: Who are your current influencers?
I’m very fortunate with a role in corporate development that I get the opportunity to interact with many leaders from a diverse range of travel and other brands each of who are driven, passionate and thoughtful about their businesses. I find it hugely stimulating to be part of our industry which covers so many products, models, geographies and stages of development that it’s not hard to find others who impact your thinking and the way you think about developing your business. I’m also fortunate to be able to learn every day from my colleagues in our corporate development team who have hugely impressive experience in the M&A and online travel sectors.
Q: One thing you feel you have influenced in the business
I hope I’ve influenced more than one thing! But the thing I look back on with most pride over the last 13 years is supporting colleagues in developing their career, seizing opportunities to take on more responsibility, building their knowledge, skills and experience, and providing a mentor environment that enables them to achieve personal growth. It’s inspirational to see colleagues progress through increasingly senior roles and take more responsibility in such a fast-growth environment especially those that have developed from entry level positions to area or product management roles in a number of office locations.
Q: Who and what do you wish to influence in the next five years?
Five years ago the Priceline Group had almost no business in APAC compared to today when it has a number of leading and fast growing brands in the region. My primary goal is to support each of our brands grow their business in this part of the world at market-leading rates and eventually scale them up to make a bigger contribution to our Group than our traditional, early markets in North America and Europe. This will take some time but it’s an exciting prospect with so much potential ahead in the APAC markets. From a corporate development perspective, I’d also like to successfully bring a few more investments into the Group from APAC whose business can benefit from our group’s customer base, technical expertise, marketing skills and experience in scaling on a global basis.
