Olivier Gremillon, vice president, Booking.com

Olivier Gremillon will speak during an Executive Interview at Phocuswright Europe.

Ahead of the event, he discusses the need for collaboration among travel players, the transformative power of technology and more.

What topic should we be discussing right now, and why?

With travel estimated to be a trillion-dollar industry, there are millions of new travelers in both emerging and developed countries, eager to experience the world, and in an increasingly local way. It is our job to create the technology to connect people with new travel opportunities and the experiences they crave.

I can’t underestimate how dramatically technology innovation will transform the travel industry in the coming years.

Tomorrow’s traveler should be able to book through voice-activation technology, enjoy a seamless check‐in process and have any question about their accommodation or destination answered within seconds, through any channel they choose.

Tomorrow’s traveler shouldn’t have to search for options that entice them. Technology should already identify what they want based on preferences and suggest it to them.

There is simply too much friction in the process today, but technology is about to change all of that. That’s why we’re ramping investments in things like machine learning and the engineers, developers and data scientists who can deploy it to make this all possible.

What is the most misunderstood element of your role and your company?

We recently announced that we have reached a milestone of over five million reported listings in homes and apartments and other unique places to stay. Booking.com has long recognized the consumer demand for all types of accommodations, and we have been building in this segment for some time.

According to recent research that Booking.com conducted in 2017 with more than 57,000 travelers across 30 markets, 30% said they want to stay in an apartment, aparthotel or condo in 2018, further evidence that consumer demand for accommodation beyond the hotel remains strong.

In fact, in other research conducted by Booking.com in 2017 with 19,000 travelers in 26 countries, one in five (21%) said that they would consider listing their own home on a travel accommodation site over the coming year.

If you could change one thing about how the travel industry functions, what would it be?

I would encourage more collaboration between all the players in travel. The global travel ecosystem is growing at lightning speed, so the opportunity is immense.

The more we collaborate, the faster we can have impact and further accelerate growth in this ecosystem. Property owners should rely on companies like Booking.com even more to invest in the technology, marketing and infrastructure resources like customer service because that’s our expertise and we can build the products and tools that will fuel more people through our platform, which in turn drives more business for our property partners.

If properties spend their money and resources on creating great stay experiences, we can better market those phenomenal experiences to an even wider audience and bring them even more business.

What single piece of advice would you give a new business entering the travel industry?

Be agile and adapt to thrive. Rapid technological innovation and evolving consumer expectations are having a constant, transformative effect on the way we travel. 

Any business in this space needs to be open to continuous learning and reinvention of their approach in order to keep pace. Reaching travelers at the right time, with the right message to help them make decisions is critical.

Does private accommodation face any significant hurdles ahead of it?

As technology brings us all closer together and it gets easier and easier to travel, this sector is only going to continue to grow, but I expect hurdles for the industry because this is new and the rules aren’t clearly defined yet. But this is a natural part of the emergence of any new marketplace.

Ultimately, we believe the rules will become clearly defined because the consumer demand is growing. I absolutely believe this industry benefits local economies, governments, consumers and homeowners.

Your boss (Gillian Tans) recently said Booking.com is out to "win" the sector ‐ but is that through the volume of supply, quality of properties or something else?

I guess you could say "all of the above." As consumer interest in exploring a more diverse range of stay experiences has increased, so has our investment in making sure we’re offering the breadth and choice our customers demand.

Additionally, all our properties are instantly bookable because we know removing the back‐and‐forth negotiation process removes layers of friction from the booking experience. We make it quick and easy. Plus, we never charge booking fees to customers. That’s something our customers love, and which helps our partners fill their properties.