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Travelport GDS Announces Management Changes in The Americas Region

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 April 2009, 07:00 CDT

LANGLEY, England, April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelport GDS today announced several management changes in The Americas region. Dan Westbrook has been named vice president, Airline Services; Melissa Carlston has been named vice president, Hotel, Car and Cruise Services and Partner Marketing and Robin Siczek joins the company as director, Airline Services. Dan Westbrook and Melissa Carlston will report to Travis Christ, president and managing director for The Americas.

In his new role, Dan Westbrook holds responsibility for managing the company's airline relationships in The Americas region. Most recently, Mr. Westbrook served as vice president, Travel Merchandising for Sabre Holdings where he was responsible for the relationships and negotiations with leisure travel industry suppliers and for the sales and administration of GDS media. Previously, Westbrook spent nearly 20 years with American Airlines in a variety of roles including senior attorney, managing director of International Market Development, and nine years as the president of American Airlines Vacations. Westbrook will be based in Atlanta, GA.

Melissa Carlston has been named vice president, Hotel, Car and Cruise Services and Partner Marketing. In this role, Ms. Carlston is responsible for managing and expanding hotel, car and cruise business and for partner marketing in The Americas region. Previously, Carlston served as general manager and managing director, THOR, Inc., a Travelport company that provides sales, marketing, and preferred services and products to the world's leading travel providers. THOR offers a discounted and commissionable worldwide hotel program, which its member agencies and corporate travel departments use to book the best hotels for their travelers. Prior to joining THOR, Inc., Carlston served as vice president, Revenue Growth Services at Sage Hospitality Resources, and at Marriott International and Promus/Hilton Hotels in roles with increasing responsibilities encompassing sales, marketing, revenue management, ecommerce, and hotel operations. Carlston will be based in Denver, CO.

Robin Siczek will join the company as director, Airline Services at the end of April. Previously, Ms. Siczek was with Bank of America where she served as senior vice president & account executive, Credit Card Services. Since joining Bank of America in 1988, Siczek has held a variety of management positions in Corporate Risk and Corporate Marketing including managing several airline and travel partner credit card programs.

According to Travis Christ, "These are significant changes for The Americas region and we're delighted to bring new talent on board and further leverage the existing experience we already have here at Travelport. Dan Westbrook brings a wealth of expertise in working with customers to forge new relationships and models that stand the test of time for all parties involved and we are pleased to have him lead our Airline Services area for The Americas. Robin Siczek also brings significant experience on the airline and travel side, having successfully managed co-branded credit card relationships that have led to years of mutual success for all parties involved."

Added Christ, "We're also redoubling our efforts to provide critical services to our hotel, car, and cruise partners, who more than ever look to us to deliver high value customers. Melissa Carlston has demonstrated a terrific can-do attitude and ability to translate customer needs into action. Melissa will work closely with our partners to ensure that Travelport is delivering all of the functionality required to help them run their business as effectively as possible."

About Travelport GDS

Travelport GDS is one of the world's largest global distribution system (GDS) providers operating both the Galileo and the Worldspan brands, providing real-time travel information and booking capabilities to online and offline travel agencies in over 145 countries. It also operates Business Intelligence which provides marketing and other critical data to the industry, and IT Services & Software, which offers mission critical reservations, related software and services management to the world's leading airlines. Travelport GDS is a convergence of traditional and online travel distribution services that empower airlines, travel suppliers, travel agencies, Web sites and corporations to provide informed choices to travelers on a global platform. Travelport GDS is a division of Travelport, one of the world's largest service providers to the travel industry.

More information is available at www.travelport.com

SOURCE Travelport GDS

Source: PR Newswire

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