Rod Cuthbert, founder of Viator, discusses academic research on the psychology of travel and what drives post-trip happiness.
Insight
9/11 Unexpectedly Put a Rocket Under the Online Travel Industry
“So, for the online travel industry, there was this strange, perverse effect of nine-eleven, which is that it literally put a rocket under the industry.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Viator Invented the Highly Lucrative 'Skip the Line' Tour Concept
“So with the tour operator, they approached the Vatican, the church and said, what if we did this thing that we'll call skip the line? What if we charge these guys three times as much, but you let them straight in? And the Vatican, you know, the commercial, the…”
Prediction Held up
Cuthbert Predicts Viator Will Surpass $4B in Gross Revenue in 2024
“They'll do, I think, over four billion dollars in gross revenue in 2024.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sabre Relinquished Booking Software to Viator Founders After 1997 Layoffs
“We knew the names of various executives up the line, and we just kept calling the switchboard until we got through to one of them, who told us, Well have you heard of collateral damage? That project of yours, that's collateral damage. We don't want it. We don'…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Look Tours Lost Its Code and Backups in Physical Server Burglary
“Sadly, they kept all of the backups in a box that was sitting on top of the servers, and when these servers were stolen in the middle of the night, The backups of all of the code and customer records, et cetera, were stolen as well.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Look Tours Rebuilt Its Stolen Website Using the Wayback Machine
“They managed to, over the next few days, rebuild the website from, you know, using the Wayback Machine and I don't know, a whole bunch of methods that they came up with on the spot. They got the site back up and going in about four or five days.”