QUINCY, Mass. � March 15, 2003 � Passkey, the leading provider of group
housing management technology, announced today the appointment of Chris
Avery to the position of vice president, business development. With
20 years of hospitality and technology expertise, Avery helps round out
the company�s growing sales team and will be instrumental in securing business
from a significant cross section of customers; hotels, management companies,
meeting planners, convention and visitors bureaus, and convention centers.
Most recently, Avery served as director,
regional sales, destinations and convention centers for Newmarket International,
where he refocused the sales team, increasing the monthly revenue by 100%
per representative and effectively increasing market share within the hotel,
CVB and convention center market. Prior to Newmarket, Avery was the
vice president of sales at Niche Software, where he helped increase the
sales lead pipeline by 500% and elevate sales by 200%.
�With Chris� proven sales record and vast knowledge of the hospitality
industry and players, he will be a |
Chris Avery |
tremendous asset to our sales team. Chris knows what our customers
need to stay competitive and he�ll serve a crucial role in guiding Passkey
to the next level,� said Paul Rantilla, Passkey's vice president of sales
and marketing.
An active member of IACVB, IACC, PCMA, and past president of HSMAI,
Avery is happy to bring his passion for the hospitality industry to Passkey.
He also is looking forward to showcasing how the Passkey solution can solve
many of the known challenges for managing group housing in the meetings
industry.
�The meetings business is going through a tough time right now, but
Passkey offers solutions to efficiently steer hotels, meeting planners,
and CVBs through this difficult period. I�m glad to be part of Passkey�s
bright future,� said Avery.
About Passkey (www.passkey.com):
Passkey,
the Internet-based booking engine and event management solution, is the
meetings and convention industry�s standard for group reservations management
and distribution. The Quincy, Mass.-based provider empowers organizers
of single property meetings and citywide events with access to a Web-based
application that provides all parties with 24/7, shared access to critical
event information and real-time reports. The Passkey-enabledSM global
network consists of convention & visitors bureaus (CVBs), hotels, association
and corporate meeting planners, meeting management companies, professional
congress organizers (PCOs), travel agencies, and registration vendors.
Passkey investors include: Lazard Technology Partners; TravelCLICK
(www.travelclick.net), Sabre (NYSE: TSG) (www.sabre.com); Galileo (NYSE:
CD) (www.galileo.com); and Worldspan (www.worldspan.com). |