S5/E27 Season 5 Finale: The Visionary Behind Viator with Rod Cuthbert

The travel industry was forever changed when Rod Cuthbert founded Viator in 1995, revolutionizing how travelers discover and book experiences worldwide. In this season finale of Travel Trends, the visionary founder shares his extraordinary journey from Tasmania to Silicon Valley and beyond.

Rod recounts how a serendipitous twist of fate - developing an e-commerce solution for Sabre that went unused - sparked the creation of what would become the world’s leading experiences marketplace. At a time when guided tours were dismissed as outdated, Rod identified a shift in consumer priorities: experiences were beginning to outweigh possessions. By creating a platform for innovative tour operators to quickly reach consumers, Viator helped elevate the entire category from afterthought to the very reason people travel.

After selling Viator to TripAdvisor for $200 million in 2014, Rod continued to drive travel innovation with ventures like Rome2Rio (a transportation search engine) and Veltra (Japan’s leading tour booking platform). Renowned for his candid advice to startups—earning him the nickname "the Simon Cowell of judges" - Rod offers invaluable insights into the future of the industry. His bold prediction? Artificial intelligence will disrupt travel distribution, empowering suppliers to reclaim direct customer relationships and challenging the OTA model that has dominated for decades.