DENIS LACROIX AMADEUS IT DENIS LACROIX, AMADEUS’S vice- president for product development, sales and e-commerce platforms, is arguably one of the technology giant’s most important players. He has led the design and development of front office systems, the company’s entire online offering, and the development of the E-Travel product. Now he is in charge of the delivery of Amadeus’ entire range of sales and e-commerce platforms, including the E-Retail B2C web offering, and whatever Lacroix does next, it will be hugely important.
MARY BASTRENTAZ SENIOR DIRECTOR, GLOBAL TRAVEL AND EVENTS, ACCENTURE ACTE MEMBER Mary Bastrentaz’s nominator, Carel Aucamp, describes Accenture’s senior director, global travel and events, as a true “trendsetter”. Aucamp, global sourcing manager, travel, with global procurement network Agrega, also says she “is doing a fantastic job standardising the management of her travel category globally”. Among her many other achievements, Bastrentaz managed to persuade Carlson Wagonlit Travel to secure funding for, and develop, completely new global traveller profile technology.
RICHARD CRUM GROUP HEAD OF GLOBAL T&E PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS, MASTERCARD IN 2012 Richard Crum left Airplus to join Mastercard Worldwide as group head of travel and expense product management. His task now is to mastermind a global approach to travel expense management products and services. He aims to create a consistent solution that can be provided by Mastercard’s existing issuing bank partners.
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SUZANNE NEUFANG PRESIDENT, GET THERE AND SABRE VIRTUAL MEETINGS WITH MORE THAN 20 years’ experience in the telecoms and travel industries, Suzanne Neufang joined the Sabre Holdings group of companies in 2003, starting out at Travelocity before being appointed
chief marketing officer for Get There.
She combined her role with that of vice- president of corporate segment strategy for Sabre Travel Network, giving an early clue to her multi- tasking skills. Named general manager and president of Get There in June 2010, she oversees Get There’s entire global
business but, as one job is never enough, she also oversees Sabre Virtual Meetings. It should come as no surprise that she holds two degrees – in communications, and in broadcasting and foreign languages – and that in addition to her two ‘proper’ jobs, she is also president of ACTE.
LARRY PAGE CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, GOOGLE IT IS NOW MORE than two years since Google’s US$700 million purchase of ITA Software finally cleared the regulatory hurdles and legal challenges – and, so far, nothing very much appears to have happened. Since its inception in 1996, ITA has been producing airline flight information software for the likes of Kayak, Orbitz and Trip Advisor, and airlines ranging from Alitalia to Virgin Atlantic. At the time that Google’s takeover was first mooted, ITA chief executive Jerry Wertheimer was quoted as saying “there’s a lot more we can do to improve online travel”, while Google’s then chief executive Eric Schmidt added: “Airline travel and online search are a perfect opportunity for more innovation [and] more investment.” It hasn’t happened yet, but when one considers how Apple’s iTunes has revolutionised the music market and Amazon’s Kindle has transformed the world of books, Google could certainly become the next big online travel breakthrough. Co-founder Larry Page hasn’t showed his hand yet, but it’s a fair bet that he didn’t spend US$700 million just for the fun of it. Watch this space.