Opodo CEO Scowsill resigns, replaced by Tompkins

LONDON -- David Scowsill, CEO of Opodo, the struggling pan-European online travel service, has announced his immediate resignation after two years with the company. Last month, Amadeus announced that it was taking a controlling interest in Opodo. Other than saying he is "leaving to pursue new opportunities," Scowsill did not give a reason for his departure.

"This is a new and exciting time for Opodo, as it moves forward to the next stage of development," Scowsill said in a press release regarding his resignation. "However after careful consideration I feel it is the right time for the business and the right time for me to move on. I have built up a strong team and know that Opodo will continue to go from strength to strength and achieve its goal of becoming one of the top three European online travel services.”

Opodo was created in 2001 by nine European airlines: Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa. In the announcement of acquiring a controlling 55% stake, Amadeus said Opodo would remain an independent entity after €62 million cash injection.

Similar to Orbitz

Formed after and somewhat similar in structure to Orbitz in the US, Opodo addresses "the real needs of today's traveller by offering an unbiased and competitively priced online travel service for world travel" by offering consumers access to flights from over 400 airlines, 35,000 hotel properties 7,000 car hire locations, package holidays, city breaks, lifestyle holidays, ski deals, comprehensive travel insurance and value added services such as airport parking.

Opodo launched its first site in Germany in November 2001, its UK site in January 2002 and its French site in April 2002. According to Nielson NetRatings, Opodo quickly gained market share and within two months of launch each site was ranked within the top three most trafficked travel sites in each market.

Two months ago in London in a keynote address at EyeforTravel's European Travel Distribution Summit, Scowsill said, "There will be further consolidation of the online travel industry and it is inevitable in Europe the Pan-European companies will be the winners. Pure nationals will operate in niches, but cannot play globally. Consolidation, for both the leisure and corporate travel players, has been the name of the game over the last 12 months, as we have seen a spate of acquisitions and mergers and the US."

Key travel player

The online travel industry, in which Opodo is a key player, is experiencing rapid growth, particularly in the leisure sector, Scowsill said. The European online market is forecast to show an average annual growth rate of 39% between 2002 and 2008, following the pattern of the US market where online sales today represent over 30% of air travel bookings3.

As one of the leading online travel portals in Europe, Opodo has 18 per cent market share in online travel agency air bookings across the three markets in which it currently operates (France, Germany and U.K.). It reached its millionth air booking in November 2003, averaging over 10 million site visits per month.

"Amadeus is an ideal owner for Opodo as we are ready to make the necessary investments to take Opodo to the next level of success, with the technological expertise and knowledge to make this a reality. By optimising content and channels we intend to take advantage of the opportunity of leisure growth", said Philippe Chérèque, Senior Vice President Corporate Strategy at Amadeus.

Technology from Amadeus

Amadeus has been a key technology provider for Opodo and has held two seats on Opodo's board since April 2003. This deal represents an evolution of Amadeus' online joint venture strategy which commenced four years ago. Amadeus has built its presence in the online travel industry through investments in several Internet travel companies around the globe including Rumbo and Travellink, the leading portals in Spain and Scandinavia respectively. In addition to its distribution business, Amadeus is a key provider of e-commerce solutions and IT platforms for airlines and travel providers.

"We are confident that Amadeus' strong travel technology expertise and leadership make it the ideal match to take Opodo into a new phase of development and expansion. We look forward to working together to continue to build what we believe is a very promising future for Opodo," Scowsill said at the time of the announcement that Amadeus was taking a controlling interest.