John Turato
Vice President of Technology
Avis Budget Group
OpenTravel Board, 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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John Lambe
Chief Technology Officer
OpenJaw Technologies
OpenTravel Board, Vice-Chair and International Representative Member
John 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.
John 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, John 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, John initially developed airport and travel agency systems for Westinghouse Canada. Before co-founding OpenJaw Technologies, John held the position of Director of Architecture with Datalex.
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Brian Bowerfind
Vice President, Global Support
SoftBrands
OpenTravel Board, Treasurer
Brian Bowerfind has been leading Softbrands support as Vice President of Global Support since October 2006. In this role Bowerfind is responsible for overseeing support offices in seven countries around the world with a staff of 125 people.
Bowerfind was most recently Vice President & General Manager, International Business Unit & Distributors for Hotel Information Systems. Bowerfind was responsible for all European operations as well as distribution in Canada, South Africa, Egypt, Greece, Latin America, and Australia.
Bowerfind holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science and a Masters degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Global Business.
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Sumeet Bahl
Director, Customer Technology
American Airlines
OpenTravel Board, Member
Sumeet 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
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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Gianni Cataldo
Managing Director
Datalex USA
OpenTravel Board, Member
As Managing Director at Datalex USA Cataldo brings over 15 years experience of the travel industry to Datalex, in particular distributed technology, and travel distribution trends. Cataldo has a cultivated a long relationship with Datalex, starting in 1996, operating as a customer, then as a strategic partner and eventually a direct member of the team in 2006. The compulsion to move to Datalex is centered on Datalex’s strategic vision, web 2.0 technology base and considerable market opportunity. Cataldo’s main focuses are strategic relationship management, key customer relationships, technical solutions and product lifecycle review/definition.
Cataldo operated as an executive at Worldspan for over 10 years, initially as Director IT in EMEA and from 2001 Vice President Product Development in their Atlanta headquarters. During his tenure at Worldspan Cataldo sponsored, executed and delivered landmark (non mainframe) product sets for Worldspan, including the first ever GDS XML message set in 1999. Cataldo represented Worldspan in the OpenTravel Alliance, serving as a board member from 2004-2006.
From 1991 through 1995, Cataldo was lead programmer and analyst for AT Mays Travel Agents in Ayrshire, Scotland, where he was responsible for distribution system integration and front-office systems implementation. He also served as team leader and senior analyst for Carlson Worldchoice, also in Ayrshire, responsible for design and development of third-party travel and retail applications operating on various platforms.
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Kevin Short
Global Industry Segment Leader, Travel and Hospitality
EDS
OpenTravel Board, Member
Mr. 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, Mr. 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.
Mr. 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. Mr. Short has been an industry speaker on revenue management, customer relationship management, and travel industry technology.
Mr. 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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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. In this role, 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. She is part of Marriott's eCommerce department in the Sales and Marketing organization. She was Marriott’s business project manager for the first direct connect B2B interface from an eTravel site to Marriott's central reservations system 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.
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Jennifer Ginty
Director, Electronic Distribution
Hyatt Corporation
OpenTravel Board, Member
Jennifer is the director of electronic distribution for Hyatt Corporation. She has been employed with Hyatt for over ten years. In her position, Jennifer 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, Jennifer began participating in OpenTravel Hotel Working Group developing standards for XML messages to use throughout the industry. From June 2000 through August 2002, she was chairman 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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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 nine 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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John Tsang
Executive Principal, Customer Solutions
Sabre Inc.
OpenTravel Board, Member
John Tsang has a broad range of experience in product development, IT management, vendor management, customer management, process re-engineering, business modeling, quantitative analytics, and business and management consulting. He also has expertise in service oriented architecture (SOA), software development methodologies such as rational unified process (RUP), agile method, and light-weight methodology.
In his current role at Sabre, Tsang oversees the modernization of the point-of-sales technical architecture, development processes, and overall product delivery capabilities. He leads the point-of-sales architecture team to design and deliver large-scale, enterprise-wide, and strategic initiatives.
Tsang’s past experience includes work as the senior director of development management at Visa, and as the vice president of product deliver at eForce.
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James White
Director, Global Automation Marketing
The Hertz Corporation
OpenTravel Board, Member
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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