Travel industry research authority PhoCusWright Inc. has announced the inaugural 2010 Class of 35 participants and mentors. The 35 young travel leaders and five mentors will convene at this year's Young Leaders Summit@The PhoCusWright Conference in Phoenix, AZ, USA.

The Young Leaders Summit kicks off a year-long executive development program for rising stars aged 35 and under, designed to stimulate innovative thinking, foster collaboration and grow the size and quality of next-generation travel leadership.

"Young talent often has limited exposure to premier events like The PhoCusWright Conference," says Philip C. Wolf, president and CEO of PhoCusWright. "The Young Leaders Summit provides significant learning and career opportunities, encouraging travel companies to invest in the future executives who will drive strategy and innovation."

Successful applicants will join the inaugural Class of 35 and gain access to a range of events and contests – both during The PhoCusWright Conference, and throughout the year. The Class of 35 will interact with travel luminaries, attend exclusive conference sessions and continue their development during quarterly Online Events. Each member competes for awards including a spot on stage and US$10,000 in conference or research credit for their company.

For more information visit: http://pc10.phocuswright.com/young-leaders.

PARTICIPANTS

Keith Baumwald, Director, Online Marketing and Ecommerce, Groundlink
Mindy Joyce, CEO, Sugarfly Marketing
Sarah Kennedy Ellis, Manager, Social Media Marketing, Sabre Holdings
Itamar Lesuisse, CEO, Kukunu
Kelly Gillease, VP Marketing, Viator
Oli Dervey, Manager, Strategic Development and Innovation, Groupe Aeroplan
Peter Sullivan, Co-founder, Vacation Relation
Sean Arena, Director, North America Marketing, Sabre Holdings
Adam Goldstein, Co-founder, Hipmunk
Michael Joseph, CEO and Co-Founder, Vacation Rental Partner
Peter Manice, Director, Travel and Experiences, Ideeli
Tran Hang, Head of Travel, Google
Shaun Stewart, Vice President, Operations, Jettsetter.com
Melissa Paloti, Director, Product Development, Cruise Critic
Josh Steinitz, CEO, NileGuide
Emily Scott, Director, Digital Marketing, Kayak
Doug Anderson, Senior Vice President, Limos.com
Mai Moore, Founder, Knowledgeable Marketing
Ivo Dimitrov, Senior Business Analyst, Vayant
Kyle Duffy, Vice President of Global Accounts, Revinate
Evan Konwiser, Co-founder, FlightCaster
Jared Smith, Director, AOL
Dena Yahya, Senior Director, Traffic Acquisition & Revenue Mgt., TripAdvisor
Tim Springstead, Vice President of Sales, Travel Ad Network
Chris Lopinto, President and Co-Founder, ExpertFlyer.com
Doug Aley, CEO, Off & Away
Justin Soffer, Vice President and General Manager, Travelzoo
Peter Suhayda, CEO, Travelgrove
Simon Goodall, Senior Vice President, Private Label, World Travel Holdings
Shailja Gulati, Sr. Manager, Interactive Strategy & Business Dev., American Express
Jeff Eckerling, General Manager, Travel, Hautelook
Adam Miller, Senior Manager, New Business Development, Hotwire
Candice O'Reilly, Managing Director, TravAddict.com
Faith Aronow, Senior Manager, Marketing, Wyndham Worldwide
Guido Becher, CEO, Netactica

MENTORS

Richard N. Barton, Chairman, TravelPost
Stephen Kaufer, President and CEO, TripAdvisor
Barrie Seidenberg, President and CEO, Viator Inc.
Brian Sharples, Co-Founder and CEO, HomeAway Inc.
Philip Wolf, President and CEO,

ABOUT PHOCUSWRIGHT INC.

Phocuswright is the travel industry research authority on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous and unbiased, Phocuswright fosters smart strategic planning, tactical decision-making and organizational effectiveness.

Phocuswright delivers qualitative and quantitative research on the evolving dynamics that influence travel, tourism and hospitality distribution. Our marketplace intelligence is the industry standard for segmentation, sizing, forecasting, trends, analysis and consumer travel planning behavior. Every day around the world, senior executives, marketers, strategists and research professionals from all segments of the industry value chain use Phocuswright research for competitive advantage.

To complement its primary research in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia, Phocuswright produces several high-profile conferences in the United States and Europe, and partners with conferences in China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Industry leaders and company analysts bring this intelligence to life by debating issues, sharing ideas and defining the ever-evolving reality of travel commerce.

The company is headquartered in the United States with Asia Pacific operations based in India and local analysts on five continents.

Phocuswright is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC. (116 32nd Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10001 United States). www.phocuswright.com

ABOUT NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP

Northstar Travel Group is the leading provider of business-to-business news, information, data, transactions and custom content solutions for the travel, meetings and hospitality industries. Brands under the Northstar umbrella include Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly China, Travel Weekly Asia, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Phocuswright, Meetings & Conventions, M&C China, Web in Travel and Inntopia. Northstar is the industry leader in marketing solutions, custom content communications, content licensing and database management serving the travel and meetings industries. The company produces more than 52 face-to-face events, taking place in North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Northstar is based in Secaucus, NJ, and is a portfolio company of EagleTree Capital. www.northstartravelgroup.com

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