1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,040 Sean Aylmer: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Daily Interview, I'm Sean 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,580 Sean Aylmer: Aylmer. Today, I'm talking to the chief executive officer of 3 00:00:09,580 --> 00:00:12,780 Sean Aylmer: an Australian tech company that's become a global success story, 4 00:00:13,110 --> 00:00:16,360 Sean Aylmer: right, unless you're in the hotel business, you may not 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,820 Sean Aylmer: realize just how big it is. SiteMinder was founded in 6 00:00:19,820 --> 00:00:24,140 Sean Aylmer: Sydney in 2006, to help hotels exchange booking information with 7 00:00:24,140 --> 00:00:26,850 Sean Aylmer: the websites they listed their rooms on. It means that 8 00:00:26,850 --> 00:00:29,410 Sean Aylmer: if you've ever booked a hotel online, chances are you've 9 00:00:29,410 --> 00:00:33,240 Sean Aylmer: used SiteMinder technology, probably without knowing it. Fast forward to 10 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,260 Sean Aylmer: 2020, and the company had a $ 1 billion valuation, officially making 11 00:00:37,270 --> 00:00:40,870 Sean Aylmer: SiteMinder an Australian unicorn. Then in November last year, it 12 00:00:40,870 --> 00:00:43,650 Sean Aylmer: listed on the ASX and now has a market capitalization 13 00:00:43,890 --> 00:00:47,970 Sean Aylmer: of well over $1. 5 billion. This week SiteMinder announced its half- 14 00:00:47,970 --> 00:00:52,330 Sean Aylmer: year results. Sankar Narayan is the CEO of SiteMinder. Sankar, welcome to 15 00:00:52,330 --> 00:00:52,990 Sean Aylmer: Fear and Greed. 16 00:00:53,190 --> 00:00:54,390 Sankar Narayan: Great to be here, Sean. 17 00:00:54,660 --> 00:00:57,650 Sean Aylmer: Now Sankar and I worked together many, many years ago, 18 00:00:57,650 --> 00:01:00,410 Sean Aylmer: as it turned out. You left the business I was 19 00:01:00,410 --> 00:01:02,930 Sean Aylmer: in and have come and you're running an ASX listed 20 00:01:02,930 --> 00:01:04,090 Sean Aylmer: company. Well done. 21 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:07,490 Sankar Narayan: Oh, it's exciting. I had great experiences through my life, 22 00:01:07,490 --> 00:01:09,610 Sankar Narayan: so great to be on the current journey that I 23 00:01:09,610 --> 00:01:11,559 Sankar Narayan: am. It's a lot of exciting things happening. 24 00:01:11,709 --> 00:01:14,970 Sean Aylmer: Yeah. So before we get to exactly your results, tell 25 00:01:14,970 --> 00:01:16,930 Sean Aylmer: us exactly how does SiteMinder work? 26 00:01:17,310 --> 00:01:21,179 Sankar Narayan: Sean, SiteMinder's platform helps hotels to literally connect to the 27 00:01:21,180 --> 00:01:24,450 Sankar Narayan: world and in doing so, to sell, market, manage and 28 00:01:24,450 --> 00:01:27,610 Sankar Narayan: grow their business. As you mentioned, we are the platform 29 00:01:27,610 --> 00:01:30,649 Sankar Narayan: that sits behind so many bookings, over a hundred million 30 00:01:30,650 --> 00:01:34,130 Sankar Narayan: reservations that happened every year pre- COVID. There are more 31 00:01:34,130 --> 00:01:37,679 Sankar Narayan: than 1 million hotels with significant potential to improve how 32 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,090 Sankar Narayan: they connect to their customers online, with many still using 33 00:01:41,090 --> 00:01:43,929 Sankar Narayan: pen and paper to manage their business, especially the small 34 00:01:43,930 --> 00:01:48,970 Sankar Narayan: accommodation providers. Our leading open hotel commerce platform helps more than 33, 35 00:01:48,980 --> 00:01:54,140 Sankar Narayan: 000 hoteliers in 150 countries manage everything from one place. 36 00:01:54,610 --> 00:01:58,330 Sankar Narayan: That includes everything from online bookings, both direct bookings and 37 00:01:58,330 --> 00:02:02,070 Sankar Narayan: indirect bookings through online travel agencies that we connect to, 38 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:07,440 Sankar Narayan: guest payments, hotel website design, updates, and guest communications. We 39 00:02:08,270 --> 00:02:11,210 Sankar Narayan: provide data- driven insights for our hotel users so they 40 00:02:11,210 --> 00:02:14,500 Sankar Narayan: can understand how they're performing and how they can optimize 41 00:02:14,500 --> 00:02:16,639 Sankar Narayan: their performance. If you think about the day- to- day 42 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:18,820 Sankar Narayan: demands of a hotel, they're just relentless. 43 00:02:18,910 --> 00:02:19,020 Sean Aylmer: Yeah. 44 00:02:19,060 --> 00:02:21,710 Sankar Narayan: And that's why it makes it so easy through our platform. 45 00:02:22,020 --> 00:02:25,070 Sean Aylmer: Okay. So I mean, the data is all- important and I would imagine 46 00:02:25,490 --> 00:02:29,380 Sean Aylmer: there'd be a lot of hotels using SiteMinder that actually 47 00:02:29,380 --> 00:02:32,950 Sean Aylmer: don't have great data capabilities because of size, or experience, 48 00:02:32,950 --> 00:02:35,739 Sean Aylmer: or for whatever. What's the sort of data that you're 49 00:02:35,740 --> 00:02:37,580 Sean Aylmer: providing those organizations with? 50 00:02:38,610 --> 00:02:42,559 Sankar Narayan: The best showcase was during COVID. The start of COVID in 51 00:02:42,580 --> 00:02:46,549 Sankar Narayan: 2020 was something unlike I've ever seen. I'm sure we all 52 00:02:46,550 --> 00:02:49,080 Sankar Narayan: can agree that it's been one of the most disruptive 53 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,429 Sankar Narayan: periods, particularly from a travel perspective in our lifetimes. And 54 00:02:53,470 --> 00:02:56,190 Sankar Narayan: I remember watching our data and seeing it going from 55 00:02:56,570 --> 00:03:03,010 Sankar Narayan: 93% in February to plummet down to 9% between February and 56 00:03:03,010 --> 00:03:06,210 Sankar Narayan: April, that same year. And it is for that particular 57 00:03:06,210 --> 00:03:10,120 Sankar Narayan: reason that we created the SiteMinder World Hotel Index. Because 58 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,060 Sankar Narayan: when you have such big disruptions that are going around, 59 00:03:13,060 --> 00:03:17,429 Sankar Narayan: you needed information for hotels to latch onto or compare 60 00:03:17,430 --> 00:03:20,400 Sankar Narayan: against, or benchmark against to see what's going on in 61 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,290 Sankar Narayan: the world. And what we do is we get the 62 00:03:23,290 --> 00:03:26,370 Sankar Narayan: booking data of all our hotel customers to generate real- 63 00:03:26,370 --> 00:03:29,790 Sankar Narayan: time reports and how hotel bookings are performing across more 64 00:03:29,790 --> 00:03:33,680 Sankar Narayan: than 40 of the world's largest tourist country destinations. It's 65 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,820 Sankar Narayan: just one example about how we use our data for 66 00:03:36,820 --> 00:03:39,880 Sankar Narayan: the collective benefit for our own customers, for them to 67 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,310 Sankar Narayan: make more meaningful decisions as they actually go about managing 68 00:03:43,310 --> 00:03:45,510 Sankar Narayan: in a very uncertain environment, as it is now. 69 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,850 Sean Aylmer: Let's get into your half- year results, which you released 70 00:03:48,850 --> 00:03:51,540 Sean Aylmer: a couple of days ago. Revenue was up and there was 71 00:03:51,540 --> 00:03:54,340 Sean Aylmer: real growth in the Americas. There wasn't growth in Asia 72 00:03:54,350 --> 00:03:57,980 Sean Aylmer: Pacific. Does that basically point to a faster recovery in 73 00:03:57,980 --> 00:04:00,900 Sean Aylmer: the US which hasn't reached our area yet? 74 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,860 Sankar Narayan: Absolutely. If you look at the state of travel, Americas 75 00:04:04,860 --> 00:04:07,170 Sankar Narayan: has actually been open for quite a while, and they've 76 00:04:07,170 --> 00:04:09,170 Sankar Narayan: had a lot of travel within the country. It's a 77 00:04:09,170 --> 00:04:12,400 Sankar Narayan: fairly large country as well. And Mexico has actually been 78 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,370 Sankar Narayan: strong. And you compare that and we grew, we grew 79 00:04:16,430 --> 00:04:19,409 Sankar Narayan: 25% year- on- year. So strong growth coming out of 80 00:04:19,410 --> 00:04:24,250 Sankar Narayan: the Americas. When you compare and contrast it to the 81 00:04:24,250 --> 00:04:28,919 Sankar Narayan: Asian markets, particularly Southeast Asia, they've had the challenges of 82 00:04:28,980 --> 00:04:33,830 Sankar Narayan: international travel being shut down or severely curtailed, a lot of 83 00:04:33,830 --> 00:04:36,089 Sankar Narayan: travel restrictions that has had a big impact on the 84 00:04:36,089 --> 00:04:39,640 Sankar Narayan: tourism market around in that region. And come back to 85 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,710 Sankar Narayan: Australia itself, we were actually in lockdown for a majority of 86 00:04:42,710 --> 00:04:47,140 Sankar Narayan: that particular half. So you combine that Asian performance, you 87 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:51,210 Sankar Narayan: see that challenge being reflected in broader travel weakness that 88 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:55,740 Sankar Narayan: we all experienced. But looking forward, I'm really positive about the 89 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,080 Sankar Narayan: recovery and resumption of travel in the Asian markets. Now 90 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,190 Sankar Narayan: you go to the EMEA and the Europe markets, we 91 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:05,770 Sankar Narayan: grew. We grew in the Europe markets, not as strong 92 00:05:05,770 --> 00:05:09,630 Sankar Narayan: as Americas, which has actually been consistently open. Europe, actually 93 00:05:09,630 --> 00:05:12,050 Sankar Narayan: only reopened in the middle of last calendar year and 94 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,830 Sankar Narayan: started recovering. And it's been stable, and looking forward to 95 00:05:16,830 --> 00:05:20,930 Sankar Narayan: greater recovery in Europe as we get to 2022. But 96 00:05:20,990 --> 00:05:23,260 Sankar Narayan: we're really looking for a big reopening of travel in 97 00:05:23,260 --> 00:05:25,760 Sankar Narayan: Asia. But here's something that I would say, if you 98 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,669 Sankar Narayan: look at our own performance, the year before this year, 99 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:34,270 Sankar Narayan: last financial year, FY21 when there was a big disruption 100 00:05:34,700 --> 00:05:36,650 Sankar Narayan: in travel, one of the biggest that I've seen in 101 00:05:36,650 --> 00:05:40,370 Sankar Narayan: my lifetimes, as I mentioned, we were extremely resilient. We were 102 00:05:40,460 --> 00:05:45,740 Sankar Narayan: very resilient, sure enough, we declined less than 6%, but that 103 00:05:45,740 --> 00:05:49,580 Sankar Narayan: is against a broader industry backdrop where travel declined over 104 00:05:49,589 --> 00:05:53,549 Sankar Narayan: 50% on a global basis. Just think back to last 105 00:05:53,550 --> 00:05:57,029 Sankar Narayan: financial year, lot more big lockdowns. We didn't have a 106 00:05:57,029 --> 00:06:00,970 Sankar Narayan: lot of travel. Tourism was severely curtailed, and we were 107 00:06:00,970 --> 00:06:04,729 Sankar Narayan: still very resilient. So the thematic from my perspective is, 108 00:06:05,100 --> 00:06:07,770 Sankar Narayan: if FY21 was the year of resilience, FY22 is the 109 00:06:09,790 --> 00:06:11,330 Sankar Narayan: year of re- acceleration. 110 00:06:11,570 --> 00:06:13,560 Sean Aylmer: Stay with me, Sankar. We'll be back in a minute. 111 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,820 Sean Aylmer: My guest this morning is Sankar Narayan, CEO of SiteMinder. 112 00:06:22,220 --> 00:06:24,839 Sean Aylmer: So what are some of the trends you expect to 113 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,620 Sean Aylmer: see within the industry? One thing about SiteMinder is that 114 00:06:28,620 --> 00:06:31,970 Sean Aylmer: you have so much data and making sense of it, 115 00:06:31,970 --> 00:06:34,229 Sean Aylmer: I'm sure is a challenge, but what are some of the big trends 116 00:06:34,230 --> 00:06:36,380 Sean Aylmer: you're seeing in the travel industry? 117 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,040 Sankar Narayan: We saw big moments and changes in travel patterns during 118 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:44,359 Sankar Narayan: COVID. International travel was down, but domestic travel was up. 119 00:06:44,910 --> 00:06:47,549 Sankar Narayan: Airline travel was impacted, but there were a lot of 120 00:06:47,550 --> 00:06:53,830 Sankar Narayan: people driving from metro regions to leisure destinations around them 121 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:57,620 Sankar Narayan: at a few hours driving time. So we saw big 122 00:06:57,620 --> 00:07:01,049 Sankar Narayan: changes in movements in travel that we are able to 123 00:07:01,050 --> 00:07:03,479 Sankar Narayan: observe, and we provided all of that to our customers 124 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,410 Sankar Narayan: to help them decide better. So if you look at 125 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,530 Sankar Narayan: that travel pivot that happened last year, that protected and 126 00:07:11,530 --> 00:07:15,130 Sankar Narayan: was really beneficial to a lot of hotels outside of 127 00:07:15,130 --> 00:07:19,119 Sankar Narayan: the core metro markets. But going into 2022, we're looking 128 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,739 Sankar Narayan: for a resumption of interstate travel. We're looking for more 129 00:07:22,740 --> 00:07:25,980 Sankar Narayan: corporate travel to recover. We're looking for international travel to 130 00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:29,980 Sankar Narayan: come back. And so you see continued growth in travel 131 00:07:29,980 --> 00:07:32,550 Sankar Narayan: of a different nature as we actually get into 2022. 132 00:07:33,110 --> 00:07:38,350 Sean Aylmer: Okay. So Australia's borders are reopening on Monday, will that make a difference? 133 00:07:38,660 --> 00:07:41,030 Sankar Narayan: It will. It most certainly will. I'm looking forward to 134 00:07:41,030 --> 00:07:41,631 Sankar Narayan: travel as well. So I- 135 00:07:41,631 --> 00:07:41,631 Sean Aylmer: Me too. 136 00:07:41,631 --> 00:07:45,600 Sankar Narayan: ... I'm heading over to the London office to meet 137 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,100 Sankar Narayan: the team over there and spend some time talking to 138 00:07:48,100 --> 00:07:50,500 Sankar Narayan: them. I used to travel quite a lot pre- COVID 139 00:07:51,350 --> 00:07:53,240 Sankar Narayan: before that put the breaks on for the last couple 140 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,210 Sankar Narayan: of years. So really looking forward to resuming my own personal 141 00:07:57,210 --> 00:08:00,670 Sankar Narayan: travel and so are millions of Australians who actually want 142 00:08:00,670 --> 00:08:03,880 Sankar Narayan: to experience the joy of travel again. And so we're 143 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,770 Sankar Narayan: really looking forward to travel becoming a more mainstream activity, 144 00:08:07,770 --> 00:08:10,340 Sankar Narayan: that it was actually quite subdued with the duration of 145 00:08:10,340 --> 00:08:10,970 Sankar Narayan: the pandemic. 146 00:08:11,250 --> 00:08:15,270 Sean Aylmer: Okay. Now SiteMinder, where's it going to be in five years' 147 00:08:15,270 --> 00:08:17,460 Sean Aylmer: time Sankar, what do you think? I mean, it's such a 148 00:08:17,460 --> 00:08:21,830 Sean Aylmer: fragmented industry that you're operating in. Having a common platform 149 00:08:21,830 --> 00:08:25,320 Sean Aylmer: obviously is very beneficial to many players, but where's SiteMinder, and 150 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:27,989 Sean Aylmer: when does it become profitable? Where do you think it 151 00:08:27,990 --> 00:08:30,700 Sean Aylmer: will be in that three to five- year timeframe? 152 00:08:31,210 --> 00:08:34,890 Sankar Narayan: Yeah, Sean, I would say what really is a highlight 153 00:08:34,890 --> 00:08:38,130 Sankar Narayan: of SiteMinder is a global opportunity. You've got a potential 154 00:08:38,130 --> 00:08:43,200 Sankar Narayan: opportunity of over a million hotels who have various degrees of 155 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,400 Sankar Narayan: legacy technology and some even operate in pen and paper. 156 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,210 Sankar Narayan: So there's a real opportunity to bring the technology to 157 00:08:49,210 --> 00:08:53,339 Sankar Narayan: hotels around the world. Then the question comes to SiteMinder. SiteMinder, 158 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,580 Sankar Narayan: our platform is in eight languages. We have customers in 159 00:08:56,580 --> 00:09:00,640 Sankar Narayan: over 150 countries and we have product leadership and that 160 00:09:00,650 --> 00:09:03,740 Sankar Narayan: has been independently validated through all, a stack of awards 161 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,410 Sankar Narayan: we received in a very independent agency. 162 00:09:07,809 --> 00:09:07,959 Sean Aylmer: Yep. 163 00:09:10,030 --> 00:09:13,040 Sankar Narayan: And so when you combine all of that, you see, we are such potential to be able 164 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,160 Sankar Narayan: to drive the growth and bring technology to our customers, 165 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,860 Sankar Narayan: to all parts of the world and be able to 166 00:09:19,860 --> 00:09:23,960 Sankar Narayan: increase their sophistication, provide tools to drive their revenue growth 167 00:09:24,410 --> 00:09:27,449 Sankar Narayan: and for us to continue growing on a global basis 168 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:28,809 Sankar Narayan: over the next five years. 169 00:09:28,809 --> 00:09:31,910 Sean Aylmer: Okay. So do you have any sort of target set 170 00:09:31,910 --> 00:09:33,809 Sean Aylmer: for that five- year timeframe? 171 00:09:34,220 --> 00:09:37,000 Sankar Narayan: Yeah, we did say post resumption of COVID that we 172 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,620 Sankar Narayan: would actually get back to pre- COVID growth rates. And 173 00:09:39,620 --> 00:09:44,010 Sankar Narayan: we were growing at around compounding at 30% per year. 174 00:09:44,010 --> 00:09:46,020 Sankar Narayan: And we want to get back to those growth rates 175 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,740 Sankar Narayan: and you see the early signs of it coming in 176 00:09:48,820 --> 00:09:52,069 Sankar Narayan: the last half as the business starting to re- accelerate, 177 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,570 Sankar Narayan: but looking into the future, we want to be able 178 00:09:54,570 --> 00:09:57,630 Sankar Narayan: to grow consistently at those kinds of growth rates. And 179 00:09:57,630 --> 00:10:00,500 Sankar Narayan: the opportunity is there because we have lots of hotels, 180 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,449 Sankar Narayan: legacy technology, and we have leadership positions and we have 181 00:10:03,450 --> 00:10:05,870 Sankar Narayan: a global footprint, along with a multilingual platform. 182 00:10:06,250 --> 00:10:08,631 Sean Aylmer: Sankar, thank you for talking to Fear and Greed. 183 00:10:08,631 --> 00:10:10,440 Sankar Narayan: Thank you. And good to talk to you again, Sean. 184 00:10:10,700 --> 00:10:14,100 Sean Aylmer: That was Sankar Narayan, CEO of SiteMinder. This is a Fear 185 00:10:14,100 --> 00:10:16,460 Sean Aylmer: and Greed Daily Interview. Join me every morning for the 186 00:10:16,460 --> 00:10:19,100 Sean Aylmer: full Fear and Greed Podcast with all the business news 187 00:10:19,100 --> 00:10:21,610 Sean Aylmer: you need to know. I'm Sean Aylmer, enjoy your day.