Damian Scokin, CEO of Latin America’s largest online travel
agency, Despegar, says the company’s swift, decisive actions early in the
pandemic have helped the company maintain a strong position as it looks toward
recovery of the travel industry.
In an interview with Phocuswright analyst Carolina Sass de
Haro during Phocuswright’s LatAm Talk Event online Thursday, Scokin says the
company is “closing the year in a very optimistic mood given the pace of recovery
we are seeing.”
He attributes some of that recovery to the difficult
decisions made early on, including layoffs that enabled the company to cut its
structural costs by 45%.
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“Nowadays we are a much leaner company, and we are able to
do a lot more with less resources,” Scokin says.
“We are closer to being a startup in the way we manage and
operate the company today than ever before.
“Speed is worth a lot, being decisive... is also extremely
valuable and the longer you delay to make decisions in this context it is extremely
costly.”
At the same time that the company has been streamlining its
operations, it has also been integrating its two recent acquisitions
– BestDay and Koin. And Scokin says he will continue to look for because “we
are in this market for the long run so we are willing to take risk.”
In its recent
financial report for the third quarter, Despegar reported revenue of $12
million – down 91% from the third quarter of 2019. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss
of $34 million, an improvement from the second quarter deficit of $66 million.
Watch the full interview below.
Executive Interview: Despegar - Phocuswright LatAm/Talk Event - Damián Scokin
* Check out this interview with Martin Rastellino, one of the co-founding team at Despegar, recorded for the How I Got Here podcast earlier this year.