Skift Tech Forum Preview: Travelport’s CEO on a New Era for Airline Merchandising

Travelport has gone its own way in the travel distribution technology world. It has concentrated its focus on airline distribution and payments while rivals have attempted to diversify into other products like operations software for airlines and hotel chains. In 2011, CEO Gordon Wilson became CEO of the company. Wilson has gradually turned Travelport from an old-school distributor — think roomfuls of mainframe computers that distribute airfares using a decades-old technical messaging standard — to one with a substantial interest in the latest technologies, such as cloud-based services delivered using modern APIs [application programming interfaces, or methods of sharing data]. The company focus has also shifted. Europe remains a top market for the company, but over the years it has expanded into India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and North America. At the upcoming Skift Tech Forum in Silicon Valley on June 12,  Wilson will talk about Travelport's past, present, and future