Alan E. Young
Vice President
IBS Software Services Americas
OpenTravel Board, Chair
Alan Young began his hospitality/travel focused career 24 years ago when he entered into the hospitality industry working in a management capacity with Four Seasons Hotels in Toronto and Weller Hotels, based in Australia. Young then transitioned his operational experience into the hospitality technology environment moving to the Caribbean to head up the implementation and business direction for a Micros / Fidelio business partner where he was the Business Development Manager. Returning to Canada in 1997, Young was the Industry Sales Manager for Sweda Canada concentrating on providing technology solutions for the Canadian hotel and travel marketplace.
Young's focus during the past years has been to aid hospitality technology start-up companies within the on-line travel distribution arena, most notably Newtrade Technologies where he was Vice President of Hotel Systems and Integration.
Young has held the position of Chief Marketing Officer with Softbrands, formerly Hotel Information Systems based out of Lake Forest, CA. Hotel Information Systems is focused on developing software applications for the global hospitality industry primarily on the property management and central reservations area. Most recently, Young held the position of Vice President, Supplier Sales for Hotel Booking Solutions Incorporated (HBSi).
He is currently the Vice President of IBS Software Services (IBS) focused on the Canadian region. IBS develops software applications for the global travel and logistics industry as well as road safety management applications.
Young has been involved with many industry associations most notably AHLA, HTNG and HEDNA. Alan has been a guest speaker at such events as World Travel Mart, HITEC, HEDNA, The HOT Conference and a number of other industry gatherings.
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John Lambe
Chief Technology Officer
OpenJaw Technologies
OpenTravel Board, Vice-Chair and International Representative Member
John Lambe is an internationally recognised expert on internet
booking engines and travel distribution software design. His vision
and expertise extends into some of the world’s leading travel
companies. He has an in depth knowledge of issues involved in travel
supplier integration, distribution channel management, dynamic
packaging and ecommerce strategies.
He is a regular speaker at global travel technology conferences and
is cited in various industry publications on topics such as internet
booking engines, travel distribution trends and strategies, and
industry standardisation.
Lambe leads OpenJaw’s technical strategy and product management
functions in developing high performance dynamic packaging and supplier
connectivity solutions for travel industry leaders. His considerable
practical expertise in the implementation of XML specifications in
Internet reservation systems and travel distribution platforms has been
crucial in the development of OpenJaw’s innovative product portfolio
which is now deployed worldwide.
As Vice-Chairman of the OpenTravel, Lambe works to create and
promote a standards based approach to travel distribution. John has
actively participated in OpenTravel for many years, particularly in the
Airline, Data Content & Best Practices and Architecture areas.
After graduating with a degree in Electronic Engineering from Dublin
City University, Lambe initially developed airport and travel agency
systems for Westinghouse Canada. Before co-founding OpenJaw
Technologies, Lambe held the position of Director of Architecture with
Datalex.
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James White
Director, Global Automation Marketing
The Hertz Corporation
OpenTravel Board, Treasurer
James White is Director,
Global Automation Marketing for the Hertz Corporation, the world's
largest car rental company. In this role, White is responsible for the
development and execution of Hertz' global electronic distribution
strategy, product development and the management of commercial
relationships with GDS and other electronic distribution companies.
Prior to joining the
Hertz Corporation in 1997, White began his travel industry career in
1984 with Budget Rent a Car as a reservations agent. Having held
management positions at Budget in operations, marketing and product
development, White became the Director, Global Automation Services in
1990.
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John Turato
Vice President of Technology
Avis Budget Group
OpenTravel Board, Immediate Past Chair
John Turato is Vice President of Technology at Avis Budget Group, the world's second largest general-use rent a car company. He is responsible for Technology Strategy, Architecture, R&D, Infrastructure, Data Security, and Field Engineering.
Turato was Director of e-Business Strategy at Avis before assuming his current position in February of 2001. Prior to joining the company, Turato was with SIAC, supporting the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Lockheed Martin, supporting the Trident II Submarine Program. Turato has been an Adjunct Professor at New York Institute of Technology and has also taught at Hofstra University and City University of New York (CUNY).
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Sumeet Bahl
Director, Customer Technology
American Airlines
OpenTravel Board, Member
Sumeet Bahl is a senior manager at American Airlines, with proven track record in strategic planning and program management. In his current role, he heads the Sales Technology group within American Airlines managing a diverse workgroup responsible for technical product planning and development supporting the sales efforts of the world's largest airline. Prior to joining the Sales Technology group, Sumeet worked directly with AA's CIO developing cross enterprise IT strategy and process alignment. Sumeet joined American Airlines in Finance, where he spent time in capital planning, budgets and corporate Finance. Prior to his career at American, he served as a project manager with Compaq and in a marketing role with Hughes Network Systems.
As part of several technology initiatives, Bahl works with several suppliers and 3rd party distributors to establish seamless connectivity based on OpenTravel XML standards, and he believes having a common messaging platform is critical to the success of these implementations.
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Rob Borucki
Manager, eCommerce Product Development
US Airways
OpenTravel Board, Member
Rob Borucki combines over fifteen years of airline experience with more than seven in Internet technologies. He is currently manager of eCommerce Product Development at US Airways, the fifth largest domestic carrier in the United States. In this role he is responsible for the business design of the company’s website, usairways.com, generating over $3 billion in annual sales. Borucki began his career cleaning airplanes, and has held several leadership roles in both operational and administrative areas, including field station management, training, and business development.
Borucki participated in the Internet boom of the late 1990’s first in operations training at CitySearch.com and later as Director of Operations for GemConnect, a business-to-business marketplace and technology company for the diamond and gemstone industry.
Borucki has been an
active member of OpenTravel since 2005, sitting on the Air Working
Group as well as both the Data Content/Best Practices and
Interoperability committees.
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Lisa Fues
Director of Reservations, Inventory, and Distribution
Marriott International, Inc.
OpenTravel Board, Member
Lisa Fues is Marriott's Director of Reservations, Inventory, and
Distribution. She is responsible for providing electronic distribution
perspective and business requirements, project management, and best
practices support to strategic Marriott initiatives in the areas of
reservations and distribution systems.
Fues is a 20 plus year Marriott associate and has had various roles
in eCommerce, leading internal and external systems development
projects, product rollouts, and marketing to support electronic sales
through marriott.com, GDS and eChannels. As part of Marriott's
eCommerce department in the Sales and Marketing organization, she was
the business project manager for Marriott’s first direct connect
interface using the OpenTravel specification and has participated in
subsequent internal and external Marriott implementations of OpenTravel
messages.
Fues has been involved in OpenTravel since 2001. She began as an
active participant in the Hotel Work Group and was subsequently elected
to and chaired the Interoperability Committee for three years prior to
being elected to the Board in 2005.
Fues holds an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from the
University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Anthropology and Hispanic
Studies from Connecticut College.
Jennifer Ginty
Director, Electronic Distribution
Global Hyatt
OpenTravel Board, Member
Jennifer Ginty is the
director of electronic distribution for Hyatt Corporation. She has been
employed with Hyatt for over ten years. In her position, Ginty is
responsible for the management of all of Hyatt's electronic onward
distribution systems, connectivity, GDS enhancements and marketing
opportunities in order to increase electronic bookings. Focusing on
both customer booking behavior and non-automated distribution, she is
responsible for the design of interface enhancements based on the
system and end-user to improve connectivity. She is involved in the
future movement of the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and other
electronic distribution channels such as Expedia, Travelocity, on-line
corporate booking products and on-line dynamic packaging. She is
responsible for ensuring the accuracy and competitive positioning of
Hyatt data within these channels for group and individual segments. In
December 1998, she was elected to the HEDNA (Hotel Electronic
Distribution Network Association) Board of Directors. In 1999, she was
elected to Secretary on the HEDNA Board of Directors executive
committee.
In April 2000, Ginty
began participating in OpenTravel Hotel Working Group. From June
2000 through August 2002, she was chair of the Hotel Working Group;
and from June 2000 through June 2005 she was a hotel representative for
the OpenTravel Interoperability Committee. In June 2005, she accepted
the position of Interoperability Committee Chairman.
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Saeed Karim
Chief Technology Officer
Softbrands, Inc.
OpenTravel Board, Member
Saeed Karim is the Chief Technology Officer of SoftBrands hospitality division. Joining the company in the fall of 2000, he is responsible for technology strategy and architecture. In addition to being the evangelist of the technology products, he has been responsible for technology development decisions and building product development organization leveraging best available development methodology and technology platform.
Karim was most recently CTO and VP of Product Development for Hotel Information Systems. Prior to joining the Company, Karim gained extensive Product Development and Technology Strategy experience while serving in various capacities in the Internet services, and commercial software industries. He was employed with industry leaders such as Ernst and Young LLP, BDO Seidman LLP and US Search.com where he served as Vice President of Technology.
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Nitin R. Keskar
Director of Software Development
Sabre Holdings
OpenTravel Board, Member
In his current role at Sabre Holdings, Nitin Keskar is responsible for a global delivery organization of staff in the US, Europe and India. His group manages mission-critical high-availability travel portals and other product lines.
Prior to Sabre, Keskar was the Chief of Global Delivery at eForce, where he managed the company-wide global delivery team, including overseeing product management across multiple product lines in the functional areas of financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, oil/gas/energy/chemicals, telecom and minerals and mining. Keskar also held general management responsibilities, including operations, technology, finance and recruiting. Previous employers include Sapient, Oracle and Praxair.
Keskar is the author of XSLT Developers Guide and has been an official reviewer of numerous books, patents and other technical publications. He received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota and lives in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
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Melissa Montana
Director, Distribution & Content Delivery
Hilton Hotels Corporation
OpenTravel Board, Member
Melissa Montana is the Director, Distribution and Content Delivery for Hilton Hotels Corporation. In her current role, she is responsible for developing and implementing the hotel content management strategy on the brand websites through enterprise content management software and proprietary systems. She is also responsible for ensuring this content strategy is implemented throughout the company's other distribution channels. Her responsibilities span across various business verticals, assisting with the definition and identification of requirements for content solutions resulting in a technology deliverable to support their business process. Montana oversees the technology supporting the various business processes to ensure efficient and effective tools are employed to monitor and maintain the hotel content management strategy across the brand websites. She has been with Hilton for over eleven years and is based in Dallas, TX.
Montana serves as the President of the Interwoven Users Group, a content management software users group and is a member of The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), an international authority on Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and the tools and technologies that support the business process. She is also a member of HTNG Content Management Workgroup.
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Kevin Short
Global Industry Segment Leader, Travel and Hospitality
EDS
OpenTravel Board, Member
Kevin Short is a
Global Industry Segment Leader in the EDS Transportation Consumer
Travel Segment. He provides subject matter expertise to clients in
airline, hotel and travel distribution. In addition, he leads the EDS
corps of Client Industry Executives covering all sectors within
Consumer Travel, including airline, hotel, rental car, cruise, travel
distribution, and passenger rail. This organization analyzes industry
trends, helps clients articulate needs in information technology and
business processing areas, and provides feedback to EDS solution and
portfolio organizations. At EDS, Short has participated in engagements
including airline inventory, channel and revenue management, leisure
travel product management and distribution, hotel technology and
distribution, and CRM solutions.
Short brings 27 years of
marketing and operational experience in travel industry planning and
electronic distribution, including airline planning and revenue
management, Internet distribution, leisure travel product management,
hotel technology and distribution, and information technology. He
brings demonstrated international expertise in applying revenue
management and distribution techniques to improve revenue performance.
Short has been an industry speaker on revenue management, customer
relationship management, and travel industry technology.
Short
received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Austin College, in Sherman
Texas in 1980, and a Master of Business Administration from The
University of Texas at Austin in 1986.
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