Amadeus’s President of Travel on Why the Traveler, Not the Platform, Should Hold the Controls

Amadeus has spent four decades as the connective tissue behind the booking, and its President of Travel, Decius Valmorbida, who speaks at Skift Global Forum, September 22–24, 2026, wants the next decade to look more open than the last. Ahead of his session in New York City, Valmorbida lays out the thinking behind that view.

Betting on Longevity Over Hype

Skift: The pace of change is only increasing. When you’re trying to make a decision, what’s the test or rule you use?

Decius: As Amadeus approaches our fortieth anniversary, we’ve gained a unique perspective on transformation across the travel technology industry. We’re constantly evaluating options for the future and, when we decide where to invest, our rule of thumb is to focus on longevity, asking ourselves which of today’s innovations are likely to have the greatest long-term impact.

This helps us avoid jumping on every passing bandwagon, be that a new technology or trend.

The test I use is whether something strengthens our long-term strategy and solves a real customer problem, not whether it’s generating excitement today. We’ve invested consistently through good years, bad years and even the pandemic because lasting advantage comes from building capabilities over time, not reacting to hype.

If a decision helps us create more value for travelers, strengthens our technology foundation, and moves the industry forward over the next decade, it’s worth investing in.

Skift: The customer journey keeps getting longer and more fragmented. How has your thinking changed about traveler choice and how your company curates products and offerings?

Decius: The only way to respond to a travel experience that is becoming more complex is to put the traveler more firmly in control. Travelers don’t think in terms of separate providers, channels or touchpoints. They want to be able to shape their journey around their own needs, with the confidence that the industry is working together behind the scenes to make that possible.

That requires a shift in mindset. The more individual companies try to curate closed ecosystems, the less freedom and value we ultimately give to travelers. Instead, we need to move toward a more open and collaborative model, where data can be shared responsibly across the ecosystem and used to give travelers more choice, transparency and control.

Technology is what enables that shift. AI, biometrics and digital identity can help connect different parts of the journey and remove friction, but they are also not the end goal. The goal is to create a travel experience where the traveler is in command, and where the industry works together to make each trip feel simpler, more personal and more seamless.

Trust as the Differentiator

Skift: How are you thinking about how the traveler/customer relationship has evolved, and what companies need to do to maintain it?

Decius: The relationship between travelers and travel brands is evolving from a transactional one to an experiential one. Travelers are no longer simply purchasing a product or service; they are buying an end-to-end experience and expecting every part of that journey to work seamlessly together.

As a result, maintaining that relationship is increasingly about delivering on a clear brand promise. In a world where travelers have more choice than ever, trust becomes a key differentiator. Brands earn trust by consistently delivering the experiences they promise, especially at the moments that matter most to travelers.

This is one reason why the industry’s retailing transformation is so important. It gives travel providers the opportunity to better understand traveler needs and create more relevant, personalized experiences. But technology alone isn’t enough. The real test is whether companies can use these capabilities to strengthen trust, deliver value and get those moments of truth right throughout the journey.

Skift: What is one area that the travel industry doesn’t discuss or pay attention to enough?

Decius: We talk a lot about choice, but we don’t talk enough about cooperation. Companies will always compete on their brands, products, and customer experience, but there are areas where the entire industry benefits from working together.

If we can cooperate around shared foundations like identity, data standards, and interoperability, we can remove friction from the traveler journey while still competing where it matters.

The future is about creating a travel ecosystem that feels like a one-stop shop for the traveler, even though many different companies are working together behind the scenes.

Where This Conversation Lands

• Investment discipline: whether a longevity-first test holds up when competitors are moving fast on AI, and what gets left on the table by refusing to chase the trend.
• Open vs closed: whether an open, collaborative ecosystem genuinely serves travelers better, or whether the players with the most data have little reason to share it.
• Trust as moat: whether consistent delivery on a brand promise is a durable advantage or table stakes in a market where every provider claims the same.
• Retailing transformation: what the shift to modern travel retailing actually changes for the traveler, and who captures the value it creates.
• Cooperation: where the industry can build shared foundations like identity and data standards without softening the competition that keeps it sharp.

Hear from Decius Valmorbida alongside Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, and Hilton’s Christopher Nassetta, live at Skift Global Forum, September 22–24 in New York.