Interview: Dario Giancristofano, Director of Sales - Dida Travel

At TravelgateX we want to know what our Partners are working on and what their needs are. In this case, we interviewed Dario Giancristofano, Director of Sales & Strategic Partnerships - EU & Americas at Dida Travel. A company that is positioned as Buyer and Seller in our marketplace. 

In this interview, Dario Giancristofano explains us a point of view of how technology companies are contributing to the travel sector, what are the main changes that are taking place at the moment, and what to expect from his company for the next 2023. 

Tell us a bit about you, what you do and your company.

I hold a hybrid position at Didatravel doing sales for Southern Europe, LATAM, Israel and overseeing the commercial relationship with new and existing suppliers in Europe & Americas. 

What are some of the biggest challenges for your sector right now?

The challenges affecting the tourism sector are external and can be identified as: Geopolitics, war in Ukraine, economies going into recession, the unknown outcome of the pandemic and how this will evolve, cultural change western countries are experiencing as a direct effect of the pandemic and affecting companies to find and retain talent. 

There is also an intrinsic challenge which is more specific to our line of business and lays in finding ways to ease the constant tension between hotels and distributions channels. I think technology companies are already coming up with alternatives and diversifying to overcome this challenge with the introduction of the concept of a marketplace.

What do you think are some of the biggest opportunities for the travel industry in 2022?

The biggest opportunities 2022 for the travel industry is to make the most of the rebound from the pandemic. However, it seems organizations have taken the opportunity to reorganize and come back more efficient, but not necessarily fully able to attend the large demand experienced. This situation together with the cultural change in the workforce have resulted in lack of personnel at airports, hotels and transports which have put a brake on the recovery in the last weeks.

What is a crazy or out-of-the-box product or technology that you would personally like to?

A master dashboard with all the variables and information to have access to real time data on all transactions and aspects of the business.

What is your favourite thing about working in hospitality/Travel/Tourism?

 The ability to recover from crisis.

What does TravelgateX add value to your business? 

TravelgateX is an agile and efficient solution to connect businesses.

What suggestions/challenges would you give to the Team X?

Build a full solution to cover all aspects of the business, back office, invoicing, BI, connectivity.

Can you talk more about solutions you think will be most impactful in the next 12 to 18 months as travel begins to recover?

I would like to understand more how blockchain and AI will impact our industry.

What are the plans for 2023? Looking ahead to the next year, what are you top two or three priorities?

For Didatravel the future is global expansion, digitalization, improving direct product acquisition.

What advice do you have for young people just entering the travel technology space?

Chose a different industry like banking 😊 joking apart, my advice will be to specialize in AI, digitalization, big data.