In The Big Chair LIVE - Sam Jain of Fareportal

Sam Jain, founder and chairman, Fareportal

Sam Jain began his career in travel in the early '90s when he joined a friend working in the wholesale air tickets business before launching his own B2B flights company a short while later. In the early 2000s, observing the potential for the online travel market, he ventured into the B2C travel world with the launch of Fareportal.

Fareportal, which is based in New York, has seven travel companies in its portfolio and employs more than 2,000 people across a number of locations including the U.K., Mexico, Canada and India.

Sam Jain was introduced to travel in the early '90s when he worked with a friend in the wholesale airline tickets business.

The founder and chairman of Fareportal launched his own travel company shortly afterwards.

Jain has been in a position to observe the online travel industry as it has grown over the past three decades.

In an interview at the PhocusWire Studio at The Phocuswright Conference, Jain discusses how and why he got into travel.

He also speaks about the digital evolution of the industry and the opportunity that lies ahead in areas including fintech and artificial intelligence. Emerging technologies such as metaverse and NFTs have yet to prove themselves in terms of travel use cases, according to Jain.

He also touches on post-pandemic consumer needs, the shift in marketing spend and the industry's greatest challenges.