Travelport Live in Sydney kicked off with two female 'robot' dancers wearing suits that were more lit up than a Christmas tree, their robot-like movements a hint of where the discussions at the one-and-a-half day conference would be heading.

Futurist Ross Dawson opened with a broadstroke talk of a world in which robots and AI would rule and change management expert Malcolm McQueen closed with advice on how to bullet-proof your business in turbulent times as he painted a scenario of disappearing jobs, driverless cars and “unconventional competition”.

In between the two futures, the more than 350 travel agents, airlines and hotels attending the annual customer event grappled with how to cope with all the changes as Travelport executives shared their ideas on how the company was “Transforming the travel experience through technology”.

For its part, Travelport is saying goodbye to the GDS label and transforming itself into a platform whose goal is to deliver a personalised retail experience for its customers �" a simple goal but highly complex to deliver as its enterprise architect, Centre of Excellence, Monty Doshi outlined the steps to get there.

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