In the green room at Phocuswright with... Johannes Reck

Johannes Reck, co-founder and CEO

As CEO of GetYourGuide, Johannes Reck leads the long-term vision and strategy for the company he co-founded while in college in 2009. At The Phocuswright Conference, he will take part in an executive interview about the tours and activities sector alongside Klook COO Eric Gnock Fah.

In a series of interviews with executives participating at the event in Florida in November, PhocusWire finds out what makes them tick...

Tell us about your favorite vacation.

The trip I took last year to Indonesia blew me away. It’s a spectacular destination with a rich diversity of accessible experiences, a warm and hospitable local culture and incredible natural beauty.

But there’s another reason Indonesia sits at the top of my own list: during a private GetYourGuide tour of Bali’s rice fields, I proposed to my girlfriend.

I had the whole thing planned out intricately, but there were plenty of curveballs — it started pouring rain at the worst possible moment, for one — but thanks to a pep talk from our tour guide, I finally found the courage to go get down on one knee in the rain and pop the question. (She said yes!)

Why isn't the travel startup survival rate higher than it is?

First, let’s be honest: tourism is a tough business to break into. If GetYourGuide hadn’t had a bit of luck in stumbling onto tours and activities in 2009, I’m not sure would have ever stood a chance.

It’s an inherently global playing field, which means thinking on a massive scale is an absolute day one requirement. And the field is dominated by huge, multinational corporations with near-limitless resources and great brand loyalty.

Even the most confident founders I meet nowadays find tourism daunting, and frankly I don’t blame them.

A more overlooked component to this issue, and one I’ve been outspoken about, is how much more can be done to support startups outside the United States. The U.S. is the clear leader in startup incubation, but considering that the majority of tourism activity takes place beyond America’s borders, there’s a real opportunity for non-U.S. startups to address tourism’s global challenges.

However, if they’re going to meet the opportunity ahead, they need access to comparable capital, talent and mentorship networks.

At the moment, there’s still a long way to go, but there are glimmers of hope: Asian success stories like OYO, for one; the rise in European startup funding levels this year, for another. I’m optimistic that the next wave of travel startups will flourish like never before.

What are you like outside of work?

I’d like to think I’m pretty consistent in and out of work. I can credit that to the fact that I started this company with my friends as a passion project, together in a cramped, sparse workspace on the outskirts of Zurich, generously provided to us by our university. We didn’t have much money, space or expertise, but we had fun in spades.

We’re in Berlin now, we have a little more money and a lot more knowledge, and our headquarters is thankfully bigger, but our hungry, ambitious, underdog mentality remains the same.

And we’re all still friends to boot: I still get together with Tao, Martin and Tobi regularly to catch up over dinner and drinks. It helps us keep our shared passion alive and reminds us why we started doing this in the first place.

What was your childhood aspiration?

I come from a family of academics and lawyers, and always thought I was destined to follow in their footsteps toward a life in academia or the corporate world.

And for a time, I pursued that aspiration actively. I enrolled at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with the aim of becoming a brain researcher, spent a lot of time in labs and seminar halls, and earned an advanced degree in biochemistry.

If I hadn’t followed that aspiration so intently, though, I would never have met my co-founders, all of whom were also enrolled at the same university pursuing similarly technical fields: physics, computer science and so on. What started as a student project went on to become the first business plan for GetYourGuide, and the rest is history.

Who is the person you most admire within the industry?

Fritz Demopoulos, the co-founder of Qunar.com, board member at GetYourGuide and my own mentor.

As an American-Austrian-Greek entrepreneur who built a multi-billion dollar online travel company in China, Fritz has an extremely unique story that I’ve learned a lot from. And despite all of his success, he has remained very humble.

I can count on Fritz for advice on just about any topic, business or personal — he listens well and gives incredible guidance.

How do you want to be remembered as a leader in your company?

Whether I’m speaking to our own team or with younger founders I meet, I always stress that true leadership means empowerment, kindness and sharing the credit.

I believe in hiring great people, framing the vision and empowering the team with the tools and resources to relentlessly pursue it. Then, when success comes, they can own it.

This creates a culture of real ambition and accountability on our teams, and I’d like to be known as a steward of that culture.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

I’m at my proudest when I hear about the travel memories we’ve created for our customers. It’s incredibly rewarding to build a platform that creates magical travel experiences for millions of tourists around the world, and we’re just getting started.

What's your morning routine?

I’m an extremely avid long-distance runner! Most mornings, you’ll find me out in the park in my neighborhood around 7 a.m., working on my form, technique and pacing to get ready for the next big race.

And it’s a pursuit I maintain no matter where I am or who I’m with.

When I’m in London, I always go for a morning jog in Hyde Park with one of our investors; when I’m in a new place, I like to make a point of charting a running route past a few of the iconic local sights. It’s a great way to stay fit on the road and get a quick snapshot of a destination’s unique character.

What would you tell your 18-year-old self?

Stay relaxed and have confidence in your abilities. If you focus on what makes you happy and what you’re really good at, you can move mountains.

Describe the setting where you do most of your work.

I can work almost anywhere, whether I’m in the office or on the road. I just need an internet connection and a few bars of mobile reception, and I’m good to go.

At GetYourGuide’s new HQ in Berlin, my desk is nothing special: it’s out in our open floor plan, near our HR and IT teams, and it’s the same size as everyone else’s.

I don’t have anything remotely like a corner office. I don’t believe in them. And nor does anyone else, for that matter. Everyone has their own way of working, and it’s important to design a workplace that accommodates a range of preferences, but it’s also important to create an environment that reflects our values.

Two of ours are clarity and commitment, and I believe that if our leaders are visible and deeply integrated in our teams, it fosters a culture in which the best ideas win, no matter who they come from.