Top highest-paid CEOs of Canada

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International tops the ranking of Canadian CEO salaries for a second time this year — and that’s after a $100 million pay cut.

Michael J. Pearson, Valeant’s CEO, smashed the record for the top spot last year with $183 million in total compensation; this year Valeant’s new CEO, Joseph Papa, held on to the number-one ranking with $83 million.

 

Despite that 55% pay cut, Papa still easily bested the second-highest paid CEO on the list, Magna International’s Donald Walker, at $28 million.

This ranking is compiled each year by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, using publicly available data. (Companies take varying amounts of time to disclose executive compensation, which is why this ranking covers the year 2016.)

The left-leaning think tank uses the figures to highlight the gap between what the average Canadian makes compared to C-suite executives. This year’s average CEO salary among the top 100 highest-paid executives topped $10.4 million, which is 209 times the annual wage of an average Canadian.

Source : https://www.canadianbusiness.com/lists-and-rankings/richest-people/canada-100-highest-paid-ceos/

Priceline less dependent on Google!!

Our dependence on Google has lessened,” Darren Huston added.

Priceline Group CEO says the company’s TV advertising, which is smaller but growing much faster than its online advertising, has been a “breakthrough,” reducing Priceline’s dependence on Google.

Huston said he is feeling better about the company’s TV advertising in building long-term direct relationships with customers. “It also diversifies our source of demand nicely.

Tips on How to Increase Hotel Income & Profit

This article will provide a collection of 20 most valuable insider tips, which can provide an outstanding platform for you to maximize your hotel’s revenue.

1. Truly Understand Your Market
   Knowing your market thoroughly is necessary to manage any business successfully. First, identify your hotel’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as new opportunities for, and threats to, your hotel. Based on this, you can then decide your hotel’s USP(s). Armed with these insights, you can establish what your current guest profile is, and crucially, the profile of your future guests.
2. Develop Monthly and Daily Pick-Up Reports
   In revenue management you always aim to adjust the price of your hotel room to the demand existing in the market, in order to post the optimal price per hotel room. For this it is essential to keep track of your hotel’s booking pace.
3. Monitor Your Hotel’s Unconstrained Demand
   Being aware of the total demand in your market will help you to calculate rates for future dates. Knowing the unconstrained demand is key. You can, therefore, keep an up-to-date log of all denials for both individuals as well as group bookings.
4. Utilize Demand Forecasting
   Demand forecasting is vital to maximizing hotel revenues. It enables you to plan ahead and reflect on your pricing decisions later on, allowing you to learn from past mistakes and optimize for the future.
5. Dive Deeper into Seasonality Opportunities
   Every hotel varies in demand during certain periods and days. High demand seasons, national holidays, local festivities and events that re-occur each year are essential to keep in mind.
6. Control your Guests’ Stays Patterns
   When looking at specific dates with high demand your hotel might want to control the length of guest’s stays. By adding restrictions such as minimum or maximum length of stay, you can ensure that your hotel avoids booking out for only one specific date, but also for the days before or after. This allows you to capture demand and increase profitability during times where your hotel is normally not fully booked. Controlling and restricting your guests’ stay allows you to optimize revenue during chosen periods.

China Travels Next Big Market

Darren Huston discusses the quarterly earnings and partnership of company with Ctrip. Darren said that Ctrip will help them bring Chinese customers to their business around the world.

Priceline Darren Huston provides Insights on Third Quarter Profits

Priceline CEO & President shared his insight to strong third quarter profits.  

Darren Huston said that, “We are always fighting the law of large numbers, but the fundamental business is very strong,”

The Future Of Travel

Those who wants to know about the shape of the travel industry of the future, should look to the finalists of the Radical Innovation competition, which is gearing up to announce its winner next month on 16 October 2019. 

 
The yearly competition challenges designers, hoteliers, and students to pioneer compelling ideas in travel. 

The idea behind the award is to challenge the hotel industry to elevate the guest experience by calling for new ideas in design and operations. Since its founding, it has handed over $150,000 to progressive architectural and hospitality-minded thinkers.

This year, the 13th of the competition, the three finalists were selected from over 50 entries, submitted from 20 different countries. 

Fighting it out are Infinite Explorer by SB Architects, San Francisco, Volumetric High-Rise Modular Hotel by Danny Forster & Architecture, New York, Connectic by Cooper Carry, New York.

Read Full Article : https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelinavillaclarke/2019/09/15/the-future-of-travel-hotel-game-changers/#2d4b65d7603c

Darren Huston Visit To UWC Adriatic, Canada

Darren Huston Share his UWC experience and gave a memorable lecture to the College students and came up with an idea for a Booking.com Scholarship at his old College.

While he was CEO of Booking.com alumnus Darren Huston (UWCAD 83–85) visited the College and held a lecture.

Darren Huston was talking about his life and career he was struck by the fact that his audience comprised so many young travelers from around the world and that all UWC alumni travel too — actually, as UWCers they tend to do so quite extensively!

So — he thought — how about creating a way for the Alumni to give to the College simply by using Booking.com.

Company Plans For International Growth - Darren Huston

Darren Huston, President and CEO focuses on the organic growth discusses the global business of Priceline on CNBC & the plans for international growth of the company.

Engineer.ai | Human-assisted AI Empowers Independent Tech Product Developers

Ever since the world got introduced to Artificial Intelligence, it has created a storm in the virtual world with its disruptive impact on businesses. With every software developer looking to leverage the technology, the lack of developmental know how, availability of a proper platform to create an end-to-end application and scalable way to develop software products have halted their steps.

In such a situation, Engineer.ai, a human-assisted AI comes in as a savior by making technology accessible to everyone, even those who don’t know how to develop. The startup helps companies build and operate custom-made software by lending an on-demand cloud-based Assembly Line. It recently raised Series A funding of $29.5 million, led by Lakestar and Jungle Ventures.

The funding round also witnessed the participation from DeepCore — Softbank’s AI-focused investment fund. Talking to Entrepreneur India, the Founder and Chief Wizard of Engineer.ai, Sachin Dev Duggal shared, “We are selling products to our customers that they want to create. Our business model consists of three important pillars: Builder, Builder app insurance called BuilderCare and CloudOps.

Read Full Article @ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/324204

Darren Huston Outlook on Travel

Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston remains bullish online travel.

Darren Huston, The Priceline Group CEO, discusses the company’s euro bond offering, and Rocketmiles deal.

Darren Huston CEO discusses his differentiated product to Airbnb

Darren Huston Priceline CEO Hope to show America our fantastic product. Darren Huston CEO discusses his differentiated product to Airbnb.

Darren Huston : Priceline is in Competition

After beating earnings expectations, Darren Huston discusses how macro factors like oil and terrorism impact the travel environment.

Darren Huston : Hope to show America our fantastic product

Priceline stock is lower on downbeat guidance for the current quarter. CEO Darren Huston discusses his differentiated product to Airbnb.

CEO Darren Huston Says Health of the business is strong

Darren Huston, Priceline Group Pres. & CEO discusses business and investment strategies and Priceline for the Apple Watch.

Darren Huston : Company Has The Largest Inventory on the Planet

Priceline President & CEO Darren Huston, says the company has the largest inventory on the planet, and discusses what customers really want out of hotel and restaurant services.

Darren Huston Holds Masters in Economics from University of British Columbia

Darren Huston, President & CEO of The Priceline Group since 1 January 2014, and also Chief Executive Officer of Booking.com B.V. (Netherlands), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Priceline Group and the number one online hotel reservation service in the world, a position he has held since September 2011.

Darren Huston came to the Group from Microsoft Corporation, where he served as Corporate Vice President, Consumer & Online from 2008 and President & CEO of Microsoft Japan from 2005.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2003, Mr Huston was also Senior Vice President at Starbucks Corporation, responsible for acquisitions and new product development. He holds a Masters in Economics from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard University.

Read Here : https://www.praguecollege.cz/our-people/darren-huston

Darren Huston : The CEO at Booking.com in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Darren Huston were named Chief Executive Officer of Booking.com. Booking.com was a part of The Priceline Group and is the number-one online hotel reservation service in the world, offerred over 165,000 hotels in 43 languages.

Darren Huston, who is a Canadian native, brings a deep portfolio of related experience to Booking.com. Since 2008, he served as Microsoft Corporation’s Corporate Vice President, Consumer & Online, responsible for the company’s consumer and advertising businesses in over 40 countries.

From 2005–2008, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Japan, which is the company’s largest subsidiary outside the United States.

Before joining Microsoft in 2003, Mr. Huston was a Senior Vice President at Starbucks Corporation, responsible for acquisitions and new product development. He has also served as an executive with McKinsey & Company, and as an economic advisor to the Government of Canada.

Read Full Article @ https://www.hospitalitynet.org/appointment/79002357.html

Darren Huston climbed the corporate ladder at Starbucks & Microsoft as a senior VP

Darren Huston, the family farmhand turned CEO of $60-billion Priceline Group Inc., is arguably one of the most successful C-suite exports to come out of this province that you’ve never heard of.

Born in Hope, B.C., and equipped with a Master of Economics from UBC and an MBA from Harvard, Huston quickly climbed the corporate ladder at Starbucks and Microsoft as a senior VP, including a three-year run as president and CEO of Microsoft Japan.

In 2011, he landed at Amsterdam-based travel website Booking.com as CEO; in less than three years’ time, he tripled the size of that operation, and in January of this year Huston was named CEO of the parent company, Priceline. 

 In addition to Booking.com and its eponymous website, Priceline’s other online properties include Kayak, Rentalcars, Agoda and Villas.

This June, Priceline expanded into a new digital realm, purchasing table-booking app OpenTable, the preeminent restaurant reservation site, for $2.6 billion.

Read Full Article @ https://www.bcbusiness.ca/what-priceline-group-ceo-darren-huston-learned-from-bill-gates

Darren Huston Interview on Acquiring Homeaway with Skift

Priceline Group CEO says his company didn’t get involved when HomeAway put itself up for sale because “we’re quite picky” and HomeAway’s model of allowing vacation rental owners to wait 24 hours before confirming a booking and charging travelers a booking fee “just didn’t fit us.”

Expedia Inc. announced that it would acquire HomeAway for $3.9 billion in cash and stock. Asked whether the Priceline Group got involved in that sales process, Darren Huston said: “No. Although we’ve talked to them for years. We were very much aware of it. We knew kind of how it was going. We did a little bit of thinking and said this isn’t the right thing for us. We’re quite picky.”

Priceline buying OpenTable | Darren Huston on Business Financial Post

The OpenTable deal is the first big move for Priceline Chief Executive Officer Darren Huston, who took over in January with a challenging task: continue to fuel growth after his predecessor Jeffery Boyd, who stayed as chairman, generated a 100-fold stock surge in 11 years.

Priceline Group Inc. stepped up its acquisition spree by buying OpenTable Inc. in a deal valued at $2.6 billion, adding restaurant bookings to an online travel business already spanning flights, hotels and cars.

The all-cash offer of $103 per share for the popular Internet restaurant reservation company is 46 percent higher than OpenTable’s closing price yesterday. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter, the companies said in a statement today.

Also Read : Darren Huston : Priceline is in Competition

Priceline is buying a company that seats over 15 million diners per month across more than 31,000 restaurants via online bookings. As consumers increasingly use services like OpenTable on mobile devices, the deal boosts Priceline’s presence on smartphones and further connects the company to local businesses.

Read Full Article @
https://business.financialpost.com/investing/priceline-buying-opentable-in-2-6-billion-deal