Sabre CEO Kurt Ekert talks intermediary opportunity and company growth

The demise of the global distribution system (GDS) has long been predicted
but Kurt Ekert, CEO and president of Sabre, doesn’t see it happening.

Speaking recently at The Phocuswright Conference in Phoenix, Ekert shrugged off the threat, bringing up an
analogy with the retail sector.

“I can buy Nike sneakers on Amazon. Nike is
a pretty good brand. Why does Nike distribute through Amazon? Because some
people choose Amazon as their channel and I think consumers are going to still choose
the channel in which they want to shop… I think the opportunity for
intermediaries to still hold an important part in the ecosystem is not going to
change,” he said.

PhocusWire executive editor, Linda Fox also asked Ekert about the threat from artificial intelligence, but he said he still saw a role for the GDS, which he said would remain “the highest yielding, most efficient conversion channel
in the world.”

“Are [consumers] still going to go…