00:02Hello and welcome to Tech Talks.
00:04It's my pleasure to welcome today Glenn Fogel, Chief Executive Officer at Booking.com.
00:08Now Glenn, tell us a bit about how you've seen your company's innovation strategy really evolve over the past 10
00:14years and where you see it going.
00:15Our focus has always remained constant.
00:18Look, we're using technology to make travel easier.
00:22One of the things that's very important to me is making it more personalized.
00:25We want to make it more seamless for the customers.
00:26And look, we've been building on this technology foundation.
00:30We've been trying to make sure that we're enhancing the customer experience.
00:33We support over 2.3 million accommodation partners across Europe.
00:38And we want to continue to grow their business through our platform.
00:41And looking ahead, I see innovation accelerating even further and faster.
00:46So AI is so important now.
00:48We have this AI-centered vision that we're going to bring everything together.
00:52We're going to continue to expand to new verticals.
00:53We're going to make the payments platform better.
00:55There's so many things that we're going to bring together so we can make it easier for everybody to experience
01:01the world.
01:02As a European startup and now a global player, tell us a bit about what you think are the most
01:06important priorities in order for Europe to build a thriving and innovative tech ecosystem.
01:11And that is so important to make sure we have that thriving environment.
01:15Look, we absolutely support the EU's focus on competitiveness, innovation, and simplification.
01:21We've got to remove this complexity.
01:23We've got to watch out for the overlapping and the existing regulations.
01:27We've got to deliver on something.
01:28We've always believed in this idea of a single market.
01:31We've got to do that.
01:32We want to ensure that European companies of all sizes can continue to grow.
01:37We want them to thrive.
01:38We want to be competitive.
01:39We're going to be competitive globally in Europe.
01:42If we want to have a say in the big questions determining our future, the future in politics, in the
01:48economy, in society, if we want to have homegrown businesses that are going to be innovative, that are going to
01:53be competitive, and are going to be large enough to be leaders on a global scale, then we have to
01:57do this.
01:58And tell us, what role will Booking.com play in this thriving and innovative tech ecosystem, the likes of which
02:03will be on display at VivaTech this year?
02:05I am so proud that we're going to be at VivaTech.
02:07We're very proud of what we've done in Europe.
02:10We've always looked at the lens of technology so we can take the hassle out of trial for consumers, so
02:16we can make it easier.
02:17We can make value to all these millions of partners that we work with.
02:20You know, a lot of them are very small.
02:22Some of them are medium-sized, but they couldn't scale tech on their own.
02:25We're here to bring it to them.
02:27We bring the latest innovation to them, and that way, they can grow their businesses.
02:32VivaTech, it's so important.
02:33We're going to do this.
02:34We're going to showcase this.
02:35We're going to show this kind of innovation and collaboration so that we can bring this whole wider ecosystem together.
02:41And we know that we're all only going to be able to succeed if we are committed to continuing to
02:47support growth and innovation across Europe.
02:49We've got to help our partners.
02:51We've got to help them get more customers.
02:53We've got to use technology.
02:54We've got to use the insights that we have, the tools that we have, bring it to our partners so
02:58they can get the business they need.
03:00That way, they will be able to compete and thrive in this incredibly dynamic environment.
03:05Indeed, Volglen.
03:06Thank you very much for taking the time to join me here.
03:08We do appreciate it.
03:09Join us June 17th through 20th at VivaTech, the place to B2B.
03:14Thank you.
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