On Sept. 1, Anita Salvatore will step into the role of North America CEO of Corporate Travel Management (CTM).
Her ascension means five of the 10 largest travel agencies in the country will have women in the role of either CEO or president.
"We're breaking through the glass ceiling," Salvatore said.
Salvatore will join Ariane Gorin, CEO of Expedia Group; Charlene Leiss, president of the Americas for Flight Centre Travel Group; Marianne Lake, CEO of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Allison Beer, CEO of card services and connected commerce, Chase, both involved in the leadership of Chase Travel Group; and Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel.
Salvatore will replace Kevin O'Malley, who became head of CTM when it acquired Travel and Transport in 2020; he had been the CEO at Travel and Transport for six years.
Salvatore is no stranger to CTM (No. 9 on Travel Weekly's Power List). She started her career in public relations and marketing before moving into hotels, then entered the travel management space. She spent 27 years with Travizon, which was acquired by CTM in 2016. She rose through the ranks and is currently the company's COO for North America. (CTM's U.S. headquarters is in Omaha, Neb., but it is a publicly traded company based in Brisbane, Australia; Jamie Pherous is its executive director and managing director).
Succession planning is top of mind at CTM, evidenced by what it calls its High-Potential Program, which identifies employees who are a good fit for leadership training. Salvatore is one of them. She also benefitted from its mentorship program.
"That developmental training and mentorship is critical, and that's what has been in my progression throughout my career here at CTM," she said. "Career development is key for us."
CTM's place in the TMC landscape
Right now, the industry is experiencing a period of consolidation, Salvatore said. For CTM, she views that as an opportunity.
CTM, she said, carries zero debt, an anomaly among TMCs.
She contended that CTM offers another option for corporate clients outside the biggest of the big TMCs.
Among its attributes, Salvatore said, is that as airlines have been investing in IATA's New Distribution Capability and trying to push more agency bookings to NDC channels (in particular American Airlines, although it has reversed course on parts of its NDC distribution strategy), CTM has been preparing.
"We are perfectly positioned because we built our technology -- Lightning, our online booking tool -- to be NDC-ready," she said. "And we continue to invest. This has been a hefty, hefty investment for many years, but it's prepared us for today."
In recent years, Salvatore has seen the corporate travel environment change because of the pandemic and the aftermath of last summer's frequent airline delays and cancellations. CTM has evolved to meet client needs, she said, including "heavy investment" in its 24/7 support of travelers and its emergency services teams.
Travelers also want "higher-touch" service, she said. CTM has created a concierge level for clients that will do everything from making hair appointments to scheduling tee times, in addition to travel basics like transportation and accommodations.