Chief Executive Officer, eDreams ODIGEO S.A.
Executive Interview: eDreams ODIGEO - Dana Dunne - Phocuswright Europe 2019
The largest European-based OTA knows what it takes to compete against the big guys while maintaining local leadership. Hear from the CEO how diversifying into new markets, products and technologies will play into its long-term success.
Dana Dunne
CEO
eDreams ODIGEO
About Dana Dunne
Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams ODIGEO, has described the company's shift from a transaction-based travel business to a subscription model, which he said was launched in 2017 under the name Prime. In a 2024 presentation, Dunne stated that the majority of the company's revenues now come from subscribers, which he characterized as providing a more stable and predictable revenue stream for investors. He noted that the company's Prime subscription penetration in European households was in the "low single digits," which he contrasted with other subscription programs that typically reach 20 to 60% of households, and described this as a growth opportunity. Dunne has also emphasized the company's investment in technology, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, which he said has been a focus for over a decade. He cited metrics such as one billion monthly searches and 120,000 peak searches per second as examples of the company's scale. In earlier appearances, Dunne discussed the company's expansion from flight-only bookings to offering additional travel services, and he described a company culture that encourages testing and allows for failure, stating that ideas are tested and data is used to make decisions rather than relying on executive opinions.
Transcript (23 segments)
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Interviewer0:03
Thank you, Tina. Thank you, so good to see you again. Hello everyone. So Dana, I know you know a lot of friends here in the audience, but for the new folks, could you talk a little bit about your coming to eDreams when the founder left in 2015 after the company had just gone public? I want to know what that was like, replacing the founder at a public company during an interesting time.
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Dana Dunne0:32
Yeah, it was an interesting time. The company had a lot of great strengths. The founders did a great job building a company that survived when hundreds of others didn't — Darwinian principles. As CEO and from the board, we wanted to move it in a new direction, build on its strengths, and address shortcomings. That meant focusing much more on technology and the customer, bringing them together to provide innovative products and services. That's what we've been building over the past four years.
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Interviewer1:25
What have you seen over that four-year period — not so much for eDreams, but for the industry overall?
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Dana Dunne1:36
In the industry overall, I see several things. First, mobile is becoming more important. Four years ago, mobile was important, but purchases on mobile weren't big in Europe. In Asia, 70–100% of bookings are on mobile; in Europe it's still only the high twenties. We are much higher — in the 40s. When I took over, I said we'd be a mobile-first company, prioritize development, and accelerate. Second, data and machine learning. Most companies talk about it, but many use simple linear regression or Bayesian methods. We do autonomous machine learning — Q-learning and reinforcement learning — which few OTAs do. We're only in the early days of rolling that out to offer tailored services.
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Interviewer3:49
I want to get into more detail, but first go back a bit. You were with AOL Europe. Tell me a little about that.
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Dana Dunne4:01
That was great. I started with AOL in 1993 — that dates me — but I believed in it and was passionate about the internet. It was the winning company, and I saw the great power and products you could offer. I joined in the early 2000s, had a meaningful impact, then moved to travel by joining easyJet as chief commercial officer. That started my love affair with air, and I really enjoy my position today.
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Interviewer5:05
So eDreams — empire on the edge, or both? Where does it fit?
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Dana Dunne5:13
I'm not sure about the categorization. We try to innovate. Not every product is the most innovative, but we demand it from our teams. We have 400 developers in about 50 pods. We push for quantum improvements, not just incremental. Many things we do are innovative, some no other OTA does. That's the trajectory we're on.
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Interviewer6:05
Give me some examples. You talked about machine learning and true AI. How is that helping eDreams differentiate?
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Dana Dunne6:11
Absolutely. We've been rolling this out over the past six to eight months and will continue. On mobile, you can only show three flight results versus ten on desktop. We use autonomous self-learning algorithms to determine which three to show each individual based on data — history, preferences. The machines learn continuously so we can show, for example, flights from your preferred airport, morning flights, or low-cost options. You also get different results on desktop versus mobile for the same person. That's just one example; there are many throughout the system.
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Interviewer8:04
And we'll talk about other products, but do you feel you're going up against other OTAs or airlines? What gets the customer's attention?
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Dana Dunne8:13
We go for the customer. We use our scale technologically. Very few OTAs, and no airlines I know, do the level of machine learning we do. We show the entire market and tailor it. The old Henry Ford model is outdated; customers don't want just one airline. We focus on price, ease of use, and the entire travel experience — post-booking retention. For example, we have an augmented reality app that tells you if your luggage fits cabin size. We cover 90% of flights globally, the only OTA to do that. We also text gate changes, baggage belt info. Customer satisfaction is number one on Trustpilot versus all European airlines and OTAs. Our direct channels are growing significantly.
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Interviewer11:48
You brought up marketing — the shift from paid to organic search, direct business, and mobile. How is that strategy working? What's the role of mobile?
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Dana Dunne12:24
We prioritized the mobile app with features like augmented reality for baggage. Customers are shifting to it. Our app rating went from 2.5 to 4.7 stars in three and a half years. That helps direct traffic and reduces Google spend. We also use subscription models and longer-term relationships. Customers come back directly because they think of us for travel, so we don't need expensive channels as much.
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Interviewer13:40
Let's talk about diversifying your portfolio. You've been air-centric. Is there a future for air-centric OTAs, or did you need to expand?
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Dana Dunne13:59
I see it as an opportunity. Our brands are strong and well-known. Customers typically book a flight first, so we have them at a great point. We invest in customer satisfaction and the whole journey. Four years ago, we sold 15–20 ancillary products per 100 flight bookings; now over 70. We're still at the tipping point and should easily reach well over 100 soon.
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Interviewer15:11
And you're seeing impact on the business. How is that moving the needle, especially with ancillaries and hotel?
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Dana Dunne15:22
As long as we provide good service, customers are more sticky when we sell more products. Repeat purchase rates are higher and cancellation rates are lower when we sell flights plus other services.
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Interviewer15:51
How do you build hotel? Travelers often go to Booking.com or Expedia. How do you change that mindset — are you becoming a hotel supplier?
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Dana Dunne16:22
About 70% of our flight customers also book a hotel somewhere. That's a big opportunity. We cross-sell in the booking path and heavily in post-booking. We know the city, dates, number of people, preferences, travel class — all that helps us make an informed proposal with higher acceptance.
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Interviewer17:37
You recently acquired Budget Places. Are there more M&A plans? Given the many regional brands, M&A must be part of your strategy.
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Dana Dunne17:58
Budget Places was a great acquisition — it accelerated our hotel dynamic pack. We look for two types of M&A: technology platforms like Budget Places, and scale — competitive players that would make sense to acquire to grow larger.
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Interviewer18:51
All right, excellent. Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen. Dana Dunne, thank you.