GetThere
Expands Sales and Service Teams in Europe
LONDON, United Kingdom – (25
February, 2008) – GetThere®,
the world's leading online corporate
travel procurement solution, today
announced the addition of several
employees to help support its growing
European business. New team members
are on the ground in Italy, France,
and the United Kingdom, serving existing
clients and actively engaging corporations
considering best-in-class travel
solutions.
GetThere facilitated the booking of
$9.4 billion (USD) in online travel
in 2007, and more than 3,000 companies
in 40 countries worldwide use GetThere
today. Bookings via corporate agency
resellers in the UK jumped 30 percent
last year, evidence of GetThere’s
strong presence in the UK online
travel marketplace.
Annette Forbes-Marsden, with 21 years
in travel (including seven with GetThere),
oversees GetThere’s sales and
marketing efforts across Europe from
London. Annette recently hired Guy
Snelgar to specifically focus on
UK sales. Mr. Snelgar brings a wealth
of relevant experience, recently
serving as online business development
manager for Portman Travel, and from
sales and service positions with
Galileo UK.
Another significant addition is Dario
Bongiovanni, GetThere’s business
development manager for Italy. Mr.
Bongiovanni, a Sabre veteran, is
now focused on growing the nascent
Italian online travel arena from
his base in Milan. GetThere will
also add a dedicated sales position
for France later this quarter.
GetThere’s industry-leading
service team, which supports a host
of multi-national corporates and
UK-based clients, also benefits from
an infusion of talent in 2008. Marc
Lozier, who served as GetThere’s
customer success manager (CSM) for
several prominent companies in the
southeastern U.S., moved to London
and now oversees account services
and customer success in Europe. Mr.
Lozier’s team of CSMs plays
a unique role, working directly with
travel managers and their corporate
agencies to facilitate adoption growth,
implement best practices, and manage
programme expansions into countries
across Europe, APAC and the Americas.
Isabelle Fleschen drives GetThere’s
continuing growth with large global
travel agencies from her base in
Paris. Ms. Fleschen is in her second
year as global partner account manager
for EMEA. Two new partner success
managers, Steve Gostling in the UK
and Sandro Pezzino in Italy, work
closely with agency resellers to
coordinate seamless corporate rollouts
and educate key personnel on GetThere
features and enhancements.
Product marketing managers Antoine
Katz (France) and Thorsten Zimmerman
(Germany) lead GetThere’s product
development in EMEA. Building off
the successful European rollout of
GetThere’s new user interface
in 2007, these men focus on helping
corporates maximise use of recently
introduced features such as GetThere
Green and dynamic messaging. Mr.
Katz and Mr. Zimmerman also work
on enhancements that promise to aid
corporates seeking to add automation
to their rail and meetings programmes
in 2008.
“With this group of top-notch
personnel serving as our foundation,
we’re confident that 2008 will
be a landmark year for GetThere in
Europe,” said Forbes-Marsden. “Corporates
and our agency reselling agencies
share our belief that online corporate
programs are truly gaining momentum
across Europe this year. Our unique
combination of unmatched resources
and an unparalleled global client
base puts us in good position to
serve corporates across EMEA as they
grasp the cost and efficiency benefits
online travel can offer.”
About GetThere
GetThere is the world’s leading
global online corporate travel procurement
solution, surpassing $9 billion in
gross travel bookings in 2007. Through
its unique technology sharing arrangement
with Travelocity(R), GetThere is
an established innovator in the travel
arena. GetThere enables global corporations
and government agencies to provide
a convenient way for employees to
book travel and plan meetings online
while significantly reducing costs.
GetThere estimates that corporations
using the GetThere system collectively
saved more than $600 million in airfare
in 2007. GetThere's advanced technology
works with all major global distribution
systems (GDS) and all travel management
companies. More than 3,000 corporations,
including a majority of Fortune 200
companies that have online booking
sites, use GetThere. More information
is available at www.getthere.com.
Sabre Holdings connects people with
the world’s greatest travel
possibilities by retailing travel
products and providing distribution
and technology solutions for the
travel industry. More information
about Sabre Holdings is available
at http://www.sabre-holdings.com. |