Interview: Orbitz CEO On the Future of Travel Booking and Loyalty
Photo Credit: Barney Harford, CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, believes the future of travel booking lies in touch devices, including tablets and smartphones, and the company is investing heavily in this area. Orbitz
Skift Take
Will the immediacy of Orbitz Worldwide's loyalty program redemption be a difference-maker in helping to build its global hotel business? CEO Barney Harford is counting on it.
Editor's Note: With this first CEO interview, we're kicking off a series on online travel CEOs talking about the Future of Travel Booking, and the evolving habits and device preferences of travel consumers. Check out all the interviews as they come out, here.
Barney Harford, the CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, has been at his post since early January 2009, with the mission of weaning a company that has its roots as a site created by major U.S. airlines off flights and deep into the hotel-booking business.
Harford has tried all sorts of strategies, from providing credits in the event of hotel-rate drops to tinkering with the hotel-booking path. But, he believes the introduction of new loyalty programs across Orbitz, CheapTickets and eBookers, all of which incentivize hotel and mobile bookings, has been the most successful initiative during his tenure.
Skift caught up with Harford to discuss the future of travel booking, including metasearch, mobile-device usage and loyalty.
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