Phocuswright welcomed two new inductees to its Hall of Fame at The Phocuswright Conference in Phoenix.
The new members are Rod Cuthbert, founder of Viator and director of Veltra Corporation, and Michelle Peluso, CEO at Revlon.
Both Cuthbert and Peluso have a history of success in the travel industry and played key roles in establishing new brands and launching businesses. They also continue to support the industry from within as well as from the outside looking in.
“Through the tragedy of 9/11, and the human toll that took on my team, given we were located a few blocks off the towers, to the chaos of faxing hotel reservations, the highs of being acquired by Travelocity, the fun of spiring with Expedia, our innovations and dynamic packaging and the merchant hotel model, introducing our beloved roaming gnome going global and so much more, online travel forever shaped me as a leader,” Peluso said.
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Cuthbert, described as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of travel, is now on the board of tourism Tasmania and is focusing on online distribution, demonstrating how a small island like Tasmania can reach out to the world and attract visitors. He is also an investor in a number of travel startups including Byway and Magpie.
In 2014, he sold Viator, the company he founded and grew to be one of the largest online tours and activities booking platforms, to Tripadvisor for approximately $200 million.
"Obviously, I’m happy about the recognition, but at the same time I wonder how it is I find myself in this position. I guess it reflects the role that Viator played bringing tens of thousands of experience operators into the market, and the industry realising that those experiences are now driving so much leisure travel," Cuthbert said.
Phocuswright created its Hall of Fame in 2018 and inductions take place during conference every year.