Michelle Peluso, Travelocity

Oversaw and managed Travelocity’s continued growth in gross travel, 
revenue and operating
o	2005 – Gross travel booked, $7.4B; revenue $830M; op income $27M 
(adjusted)
o	2006 – Gross travel booked, $10.1B; revenue $1.1B; op income $73M 
(adjusted)

Over the last 2 years, Michelle has led Travelocity’s emergence as a 
global travel brand, beginning in Europe with the acquisition and integration of 
lastminute.com in Europe in May 2005, followed by the buyout of ZUJI in Asia-
Pacific in 2006. In 2007, Michelle has led the introduction of the Travelocity
brand in India and Mexico.

Almost overnight, Travelocity went from a company of 2,000 employees 
primarily in North America to a team of 5,000 worldwide. Michelle now manages a 
nearly 24/7 global workforce.

In between frequent trips to London, Singapore and Sydney to get to 
know her new teams, Michelle made sure the North America business stayed on 
track as Travelocity launched ambitious customer-centric programs aimed at 
differentiating itself in a white hot competitive space.

These initiatives, under an umbrella the company refers to 
as “customer championship,” include the Travelocity Guarantee, the Customer Bill 
of Rights, the VIP loyalty program, and a new dreaming and planning travel tool 
still in BETA known as Experience Finder.

Michelle helped Travelocity become the first online travel company to 
address global warming through its GoZero program in August 2006, an initiative 
that has now been emulated by all other online sites.  As a result of the program, 
approximately 8,200 trees are in the process of being planted in the Bogue Chitto 
National Wildlife Refuge, which is located 45 miles north of New Orleans, LA. Over 
their lifetime, those 8,200 trees will trap more than 21 million lbs of CO2 from
the atmosphere. (nearly 10,500 tons).

Additionally, she launched Change Ambassadors in September 2006- a 
program to encourage travelers to volunteer on trips (“voluntourism”).  Travelocity 
has teamed up with some of the top volunteer organizations in the country to 
provide easy-to-access information about volunteer vacations on the Travelocity 
Web site.

Key components of the Change Ambassadors program are consumer 
and employee grants that will be awarded to people who wish to help others 
through volunteering, but do not have the financial means to take a volunteer 
vacation.  The company awards two $5,000 grants per quarter to customers and 
one $5,000 grant per quarter to employees. 

Michelle played a key role in Sabre Holdings transition from a publicly 
traded company into the world of private equity in late 2006.

She continues to serve on the boards of Technoserve, which provides 
business advice and access to both markets and capital to businesspeople in 
developing countries and Christa House, a not-for-profit home for the dying poor, 
particularly those at end-stage AIDS located in West Babylon, New York. She is 
also on the North America Board for Pemboke College, Oxford and continues to 
be a “lifetime mentor” to a special inner-city family.

http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/video/careers/559d6a9be8e8ea1d3936
ef738b3b17d1caee7304.html

http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/Archives/JulAug07/16-21%20Destination.pdf

http://www.vollmerpr.com/michelle

http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?
sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=7155F7796F354F21
B1183937D847D6DF&tier=4&id=0A2E97D7CF7445D6AEC549EE9F04276A

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/business/09ecom.html

Michelle Peluso became president and CEO of Travelocity in December 2003.  
Prior to her appointment as CEO, Peluso served as Travelocity’s COO and senior 
VP of product strategy and distribution.  

In 2005, Peluso was recognized by the National Italian American Foundation with 
the Special Achievement Award in Business and the Wall Street Journal in 2004 
ranked Peluso #4 on its “50 Women to Watch” list. 

Peluso received her master’s degree in economics, philosophy and politics from 
Pembroke College at Oxford University where she was a Thoroun Scholar, and her 
bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of 
Business.