ACTE Exec. Director To Retire

Association of Corporate Travel Executives executive director Nancy Holtzman during a conference call this morning told ACTE staff she would retire at year-end, vacating the leadership position she held since 1997.

"After 25 years in the business travel management industry, I have decided to retire," Holtzman said in a statement. "This decision follows a year of thought and the realization that my grandson's first word to me was 'GDS.' My last day as ACTE's executive director will be Dec. 31."

An ACTE spokesperson said Holtzman would continue her role as executive director throughout 2004, and the association's board already has begun its search for a replacement. "Holtzman presided as ACTE's executive director during some of the darkest years in business travel history--through global recession, the horror of 9/11 and the SARS scare," ACTE said in a statement.

Holtzman began her career in the business travel industry in 1979 at Continental Airlines, where she was among the first airline sales executives to market directly to corporations, ACTE said. Holtzman in September 1997 took on the position of executive director, which was vacated by Terry Mellen. During Holtzman's tenure, ACTE experienced a transformational expansion.

"When I began, the association had a staff of three, was largely U.S.-centric and had a membership of approximately 1,200," Holtzman said. "Seven years later, our educational program spans the globe. We have proven that cost-containment policies go far beyond the travel management function. We're interacting with governments, institutions of higher learning and industry coalitions on three continents. And our membership has grown by 104 percent to 2,500. Taking this organization from what was essentially a U.S. travel management trade association, focused on travel operations, to an international travel management authority with an emphasis on strategy is my crowning achievement."

"ACTE bears Nancy Holtzman's thumbprint on every project and initiative," said association president Garth Jopling in a statement.