Former GetThere senior vice president Tony D'Astolfo last month joined former GetThere colleagues Jay GaBany and Mark Orttung at Talaris, a pre-IPO startup with which they earlier had signed a marketing partnership
(BTN, Oct. 18, 2001). D'Astolfo will run Talaris' travel vertical as vice president of travel services. The self-described employee business services provider helps companies purchase "everything that can't be bought from a catalogue or warehouse" and counts Cingular and JDS Uniphase among its clients.
GetThere vice president of customer services Bev Heinritz was named GetThere general manager. Ray Pazerekas and Steve Soto remain top sales managers.
After paying three-quarters of a billion dot-com dollars for GetThere
(BTN, Sept. 4, 2000), Sabre last year folded the Menlo Park, Calif.-based subsidiary into its other operating units "to reduce overlap" in development and marketing
(BTN, Sept. 22, 2003). GetThere's corporate booking tool went to the Sabre Travel Network—the GDS business that is Sabre's largest revenue producer—while its supplier Web site business became part of Sabre Airline Solutions and its technology and development infrastructure was integrated into Travelocity. Former GetThere president Jeff Palmer left the company late last year.
As Sabre created Travelocity Business to offer both corporate agency and booking services, D'Astolfo was named GetThere senior vice president in charge of corporate business, running sales and account management for agencies and corporate clients who directly purchase the GetThere booking technology. The realignment has created some confusion in the marketplace. "We will continue to invest in the GetThere product offering," Sabre president and CEO Sam Gilliland said in April. "I think, though, you'll begin to see benefits as we merge some of the capabilities over time. You'll continue to see a very strong GetThere platform on a standalone basis and also you'll see the technology shared between GetThere and Travelocity." Another Sabre official said the Travelocity Business application, which is now "heavy on the GetThere side," later in the year will take on more of Travelocity's look and feel. GetThere posted a record quarter in the three-month period ending in March.
Called by a Sabre source "one of those people you don't get rid of," D'Astolfo said his departure was not related to any integration challenges. "I was looking for the next opportunity," said D'Astolfo, formerly a 19-year veteran of United Airlines. "I still have lots of friends at GetThere and still love the place, but I wanted to challenge myself." D'Astolfo called Talaris' model potentially "game changing." Talaris offers purchasing services related to packaged shipping, Web- and audioconferencing, dining, limousines and travel. He said its focus on mobile communications will offer buyers "what they want, where they want it." The San Mateo, Calif.-based firm received more than $11 million in financing last November.