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This week in Opportunities:

Forecast: Online Travel Spending To Reach $128 Billion in 2011
More Americans Traveling This Thanksgiving
Opportunities Networking!
Executive Movers! See who's going where?
Travel Executive Employment Report

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OPPORTUNITIES NEWS & TRENDS

Forecast: Online Travel Spending To Reach $128 Billion in 2011

JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, finds that $128 billion in travel will be sold online in the United States in 2011. According to a new report by JupiterResearch, “US Travel Forecast, 2006 to 2011,” 38 percent of travel revenue will be made online in 2011. “Online travel revenue will continue to grow strongly from $85 billion in 2006,” said Diane Clarkson, Analyst at JupiterResearch and lead author of the report. “Factors that will spur online spending are greater consumer wallet share, increasingly sophisticated products available online, and improved online compliance in business travel.” Higher fares and an increase in people flying have driven total air revenue to $138 billion in 2006, with $49 billion of that spent online. JupiterResearch forecasts that this figure will grow to $72 billion in 2011. Additionally, hotels will continue to see a shift to online sales as more travelers shift from hotels’ telephone reservations to their websites. "This brisk growth in online travel revenues is accompanied by a continued shift of market share in favor of supplier sites," said David Schatsky, President of JupiterKagan. "Online air buyers indicate a preference for airline web sites to avoid service fees and to get loyalty points. Suppliers also enjoy the perception that they will offer better service than intermediaries.” The complete findings of this report are available at www.jupiterresearch.com.

More Americans Traveling This Thanksgiving

TripAdvisor has announced the results of a Thanksgiving travel survey of more than 1,400 U.S. travelers. Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents are planning to travel for Thanksgiving this year, up from 34 percent last year. Among those traveling, 56 percent of travelers will make the trip via car, while 41 percent will fly. Last year, 61 percent of those who traveled said they went by car and 36 percent said they took a flight. Forty-seven percent of respondents consider Thanksgiving the worst holiday for traveling. Among those traveling for Thanksgiving, the greatest percentage (29 percent) will be departing for the holiday on Wednesday, November 22, tied with Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, November 23. The most popular days to return home are Sunday, November 26 (29 percent) followed by Saturday, November 25 (20 percent). Twelve percent plan to return on Thanksgiving Day, while 11 percent intend to return on Monday, November 27. Seventy-four percent of survey respondents plan to see relatives/family this Thanksgiving, almost unchanged compared to 75 percent that said they saw relatives/family for the holiday in 2005. When asked what they would like to be doing this Thanksgiving, 42 percent of travelers said enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving at home with family, 25 percent said spending Thanksgiving visiting relatives, and 18 percent would prefer getting away to a beach destination for the holiday.

OPPORTUNITIES NETWORKING!

Condo-Hotel Industry to Gather in Las Vegas

Information Management Network (IMN), the largest organizer of condo hotel conferences, will host over 500 top owners, developers, and service providers at its annual Las Vegas Symposium on Financing, Developing and Operating Condo Hotels from November 30-December 1, 2006 at The Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada. IMN's Condo Hotel events, held annually in both Las Vegas and Miami, have consistently grown in stature and have become the key Condo Hotel industry gatherings nationwide. As the largest events of their kind, IMN's Condo Hotel Symposia are the foremost meeting places to educate new market entrants and discuss the latest transactions and industry developments. This year, over 40 Condo Hotel owners will bring their real-life experiences to the table and over 40 service providers will be exhibiting at the Symposium. Featuring over 100 leading industry speakers, this year's program will focus on the very latest trends and developments. The event will feature regional roundtables, as well as over 30 panel discussions covering the most recent industry issues, key regulatory developments and operations matters. For more information about this IMN conference, please visit www.imn.org/eej916/pr.

OPPORTUNITIES EXECUTIVE MOVERS!

HOTELS & RESORTS: Merritt Hospitality, the management subsidiary of HEI Hospitality, has announced that William J. Scanlon has joined the company as senior vice president of sales and marketing. He will be responsible for maximizing revenues at the company's expanding portfolio of upscale hotels. Scanlon will report directly to Ted Darnall, president of Merritt and chief operating officer of Merritt and HEI. Scanlon will primarily oversee market analysis, positioning, revenue strategy, and yield and demographic analysis. Scanlon also will be responsible for coordinating all pre-opening sales and marketing efforts. Prior to joining Merritt, Scanlon spent more than 16 years with Marriott, most recently as vice president, sales and marketing, Caribbean/Latin American Region, where he was responsible for generating more than $700 million in annual sales. Previously, he held similar positions within Marriott's Northeast Region, including vice president of sales and marketing, where he oversaw 133 hotels with annual revenues of $1.5 billion. He later served as vice president of national account sales in the region, where he led a team of more than 35 in the oversight of a 10-state area and where he played a leading role in the integration of the Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance and Execustay brands into the Marriott system. Scanlon began his career with Marriott as a senior sales manager for Marriott's Camelback Inn, and rose steadily through the ranks in marketing positions of increasing scope and responsibility... Fairmont has named Kevin Frid as Senior Vice President Operations For North America. Based out of Fairmont's corporate headquarters in Toronto, Frid, who most recently held the position of Regional Vice President, U.S. Central Region & General Manager, The Fairmont Chicago, will be responsible for the direction and overall performance of Fairmont's hotel operations in North America. A familiar face at Fairmont, Frid first joined the company at sister brand Delta Hotels in 1982. During his tenure, he held the General Manager's position at several Delta properties across Canada until in 1993 when he was promoted to Regional Vice President & General Manager, Delta Ottawa. In 1997 he was subsequently chosen to oversee the day-to-day operations for the first-class hotel company as the brand's Vice President Operations. Frid holds an M.B.A. from Queens University, as well as a B.A. in Hospitality & Tourism Management from Ryerson University... Wyndham Hotels and Resorts has announced the appointment of Faith Taylor as vice president of innovation and product development. Taylor, who reports to Peter Strebel, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts president, will be responsible for upgrading existing products and services, tracking competitive programs and trends and seeking new strategic opportunities for the brand. Taylor has spearheaded the brand's new interior designs, in-room products and hotel prototype initiatives developed by the world-renowned design firm of Michael Graves & Associates. She joined the Hotel Group in January 2003 as senior director of marketing for the Ramada brand, responsible for its strategic planning and repositioning programs, marketing budgets and all advertising and media commitments. Most recently she was senior director, product innovation for all Hotel Group brands. Taylor has also served as a marketing consultant for several companies including International Home Foods Inc. in Parsippany, N.J. and Idamar Enterprise in Newark, N.J. and was a founding member of Hookt.com Inc., an e-commerce company in New York. Faith also worked for Avon Products Inc. in New York from 1987 to 1997 in a variety of brand marketing and management positions. She began her career in 1985 with Time Warner Inc. in New York as a marketing executive for People and Sports Illustrated magazines. Taylor earned her bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., and her master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of Business, Philadelphia.

TRAVEL TECH: Travelport Limited, the parent company of the Travelport group of companies, has announced that Michael E. Rescoe has been appointed as the Company's Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Rescoe will report to Travelport President and CEO, Jeff Clarke. He replaces Daryl Raiford, who is leaving and has accepted a senior position in another company. Previously, Rescoe was chief financial officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a wholly-owned corporation of the Federal Government. He has played a lead role in the corporation's on-going critical transition to a more competitive business model. Since joining TVA in 2003, Rescoe has been charged with increasing TVA's financial flexibility and positioning TVA to meet the healthy demand growth in the Tennessee Valley. Before joining TVA in 2003, Rescoe served as CFO and SVP of finance and planning at Santa Clara-based 3Com Corporation, a global leader in network technology solutions. While at 3Com, Rescoe helped to complete one of the most successful IPO's in the history of the technology sector-Palm Inc., the corporation's hand-held computing division. Rescoe also held CFO positions at San Francisco-based PG&E Corporation and Dallas-based Enserch Corporation, both diversified energy and utility companies. For more than a dozen years, he worked as an investment banker within the energy and utility sector.

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