SOUTHLAKE, Texas | GetThere(R), the world's leading online corporate travel procurement solution, today announced the hiring of two renown business travel executives to support the company’s growth in 2009 and beyond. Joan England joins the team as vice president of sales for North America, and Duane Futch comes on board as vice president of travel procurement strategy. Both executives report directly to GetThere president Chris Kroeger.

More than 3,000 companies worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 200 that use an online travel program, used GetThere in 2007 to cumulatively book more than $9.4 billion in travel.

Joan England brings a wealth of sales and marketing experience across multiple components of the managed travel industry. In her position, she oversees direct corporate sales and GetThere’s business travel agency reseller programs. Ms. England also manages the company’s active government travel segment and new channel partnerships, such as the GetThere-SAP relationship announced this June.

Ms. England arrives at GetThere after serving as vice president of marketplace performance at Meeting Professionals International. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years with Pegasus Solutions in several executive positions. During her tenure as vice president of sales for Pegasus Financial Services, she contributed to the company’s global expansion, doubling annual revenues and increasing market share by 30 percent. In the mid-1990s, Ms. England participated in the launch of Xtra Online, one of the earliest corporate booking tools. She also spent 12 years in the travel management company arena, earning sales recognition awards from American Express and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Travel Agent magazine named Ms. England one of the “Top Ten Women in Travel Technology” in 2002.

Duane Futch joins GetThere after ten successful years as director of Wal-Mart’s global travel division. In his role, Mr. Futch provides advisory services to clients, prospects and agency resellers, helping travel professionals analyze programs from a procurement perspective and devising configurable solutions that leverage GetThere’s automation and support infrastructure.

During his stint at Wal-Mart, Mr. Futch grew the company’s U.S. travel department into a world-class global program, with deployment in 12 countries serving 500,000 travelers. He created the first-ever U.S. point-of-sale and multi-currency transaction model to facilitate international financial settlement of air ticketing processes. Mr. Futch holds an airline transport pilot certificate, and served in several executive and regulatory positions in corporate aviation and the jet charter industry before joining Wal-Mart in 1998. Business Travel News named Mr. Futch “Travel Manager of the Year” in 2006.

“Duane and Joan bring tremendous experience and talent to the GetThere team, complementing the industry’s leading collection of seasoned travel procurement personnel,” said Chris Kroeger, president of GetThere. “In a recessionary environment with corporations striving to gain maximum value from all components of their travel program, GetThere’s combination of innovative travel technology supported by unmatched global support represents the best option for mid-size and large companies.”

About GetThere | GetThere is the world’s leading global online business travel procurement solution, surpassing $9 billion in bookings in 2007. GetThere’s proven technology and unparalleled global service infrastructure helps corporations collectively save millions in air and hotel costs. Through its unique relationship with Travelocity(R), GetThere provides a familiar online booking experience for travelers of more than 3,000 companies, including a majority of multi-national Fortune 200 firms that deploy online booking. GetThere works with all major global distribution systems (GDS). Companies using GetThere and the Sabre GDS together can optimize efficiency and cost savings across the entire travel procurement process. More information is available at .

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 is available at .

Michael Brophy (GetThere)
682-605-2565
GetThere