For Terry Jones, The Man Who Revolutionized the Travel Industry, The Road To Success For YOUR Business Lies In Just One Word: Innovate!
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If you’re old enough to remember life BEFORE the internet, think of all of the ways that the internet has changed the way you do everyday things.
Amazon and Ebay changed the way you shop.
TV news sites such as CNN and Fox News changed the way you receive news and information, while the blogosphere changed the way you receive opinion.
Netflix and Hulu changed the way you watch TV,
Match and eHarmony changed the way you meet your significant other.
Travelocity changed the way you travel.
Specifically, Terry Jones changed the way you travel. Jones had been a longtime I.T. Executive for SABRE, the technology developed under the watchful eye of longtime American Airlines executive (and former Raja Show guest) Bob Crandall that provided travel agencies with a computerized method by which they could book travel and lodging arrangements for clients.
In 1996, with the idea of “Hey, why don’t we bring this technology to the people, eliminating the middleman (i.e. brick and mortar travel agency) in the process?” in their back pocket, Jones led a spinoff effort from SABRE that provided end user travelers the technology to book travel arrangements on their own, using the internet.
The name: Travelocity.
Since most regular web users in 2015 hit Travelocity as one of their first go-to’s when it comes to booking a vacation or a business trip, Travelocity had obviously been an instant success since Day One, right?
No. Not even close.
Between some costly marketing mistakes early on (spending over $1 million…in 1996….on a marketing campaign based solely on CD-Roms featuring exotic destinations that bombed pretty much instantly) to reaching a public that wasn’t quite ready to make booking travel arrangements a D.I.Y. endeavor, Travelocity’s early foundation was built on very shaky ground, and SABRE was ready to pull the plug on the venture.
But Terry fought the good fight to keep Travelocity alive, in the name of innovation (and self preservation). In the end, Travelocity, innovation, and Terry Jones came out on top.
Since the launch of Travelocity, Terry Jones has established himself as one of, if not THE, premier travel entrepreneurs in America. He has also served as the Founding Chairman of another industry leader in online travel Kayak.com, and is the current Chairman of Wayblazer.com,, a venture that further integrates the travel industry with the end-user customer experience.
Innovation has been the primary key to Terry Jones’ success, and for him, it is the single difference between a truly successful company, and what he calls “a PowerPoint deck that has raised money.” Terry has gone all-in on the importance of innovation, writing a successful book, “On Innovation”, a primer that lays out, in Terry’s words, what exactly successful companies need to do to get ahead, and stay ahead, using innovation as the catalyst.
On this edition of “The Raja Show”, Terry joins Raja (a man who knows a thing or two about the importance of innovation himself) to discuss his remarkable career. Terry will also talk about the role that innovation played in the revolution of the travel industry, what’s next for the way we travel, and how, regardless of industry, you can use innovation right now to achieve your company’s goals.
