Travel Industry Veteran and Former Kayak Exec Joins Sojern
BERLIN – 5 September, 2019 – Sojern, the leading provider of digital marketing solutions for the travel industry with clients such as Marriott International, Accor and Trivago, today announced the appointment of Mathias Gerber as Regional Director, DACH. Gerber joins Sojern from Travel Audience GmbH, an Amadeus company, where he was Head of Airline Sales and Strategy. Bringing more than 20 years of experience to the role, Gerber will focus on growing Sojern’s existing client base across the region. Already a familiar face to many in this region, Gerber has significant experience in both digital marketing and the travel industry having held senior positions at top companies including Kayak, eDreams ODIGEO and TripAdvisor.
Sojern’s VP of EMEA, Chris Blaine said “Germany has a booming travel and tourism market that is performing better than the worldwide average. Combined with strong domestic demand for travel locally and abroad the opportunity for Sojern there is significant,” Blaine continues, “Germans spent roughly €85.5 billion last year on outbound travel. Marketers have responded and we expect investment in programmatic advertising in Germany to increase to €1.80 billion this year. Mathias has an exceptional track record of success, extensive industry experience, and strong relationships across the region. We are thrilled to have him on board to meet the increasing client demand in the DACH region.
”The hiring of Gerber, who will be based in the company’s Berlin office, comes at a time when the online travel market is rapidly growing with 55 percent of German travel bookings now conducted online making it the most important distribution channel.
According to PhocusWright, the growth of travel gross bookings is predicted to continue on an upward trend with a projected growth of 3 percent through 2021. As the industry grows, so will the demand for brands to match travellers with personalised marketing offers, whilst overcoming the challenges of precisely targeting consumers across multiple devices, channels, and platforms.
Gerber commented, “I have been impressed by the results they have achieved for companies such as Trivago and FlixBus. Sojern has the right technology, data science and travel expertise to provide a truly unique solution that helps travel brands move customers from dream to destination. This is exactly what travel marketers in this region have been asking for and I am excited to help brands navigate the complex digital marketing landscape and more effectively drive marketing ROI.”Sojern has experienced explosive global growth with now over 550 employees across 13 global locations. Sojern acquired Adphorus, a Facebook and Instagram Marketing Partner specialising in travel and recently announced growth equity firm TCV has led a US$120 million financing round in Sojern.
About Sojern
Sojern is built on more than a decade of expertise analyzing the complete traveler path to purchase. The company drives travelers from dream to destination by activating multi-channel branding and performance solutions on the Sojern Traveler Platform for more than 8,500 customers around the globe. Recognized as a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 company six years in a row, Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco, with teams based in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, New York, Omaha, Paris, Singapore, and Sydney.
