Leadership
David M. Rifkin, CTC – President
/ CEO
David is a travel industry veteran with over
30 years of experience. He was born into the
travel industry and gained broad knowledge
through his involvement with, and eventual
ownership of, the family business, Rifkin Travel,
Inc (founded in 1959). Always on the leading
edge of technology, Dave participated on numerous
supplier advisory boards and his agency was
repeatedly chosen as a beta test site for many
of the industry’s technical advances.
In 2003, Rifkin Travel merged with Adelman
Travel Group, and Dave assumed the role of
Adelman’s SVP of Corporate Sales with
responsibility for driving retention and new
account sales.
Dave has worked in a consulting capacity in
the U.S. and Europe. He was amongst the first
to design and implement a Pan – European
managed online booking solution, including
the creation and management of a client owned
agency in the UK to provide strong, customer
focused service.
In 2006, Dave was offered the opportunity
to purchase 50% of the eGlobalfares and help
drive the company’s launch in the U.S.
and other markets around the globe.
Dave is a graduate of Bucknell University
and has served on innumerable Philanthropic
organizations’ board of directors where
he has held executive roles and been recognized
for his community efforts.
Ian Bennyworth, Director of International
Sales
Born in Kingston Upon Hull, England, Ian has
been involved in the travel industry since
he joined a local retail agency at the age
of 19. Even while pursuing a 7-year professional
soccer career, his interest in travel remained
strong, resulting in his being recruited for
managerial roles at several corporate agencies – QP
Travel, Going Places, and Stellaris Travel.
In 1994 Ian co-founded Corporate Travel
International and assumed the role of that
company’s Corporate Sales Director, helping
to build the agency into one of the leading
UK corporate travel businesses.
Ian has a wealth of experience in managing
the travel requirements of multi-national corporate
clients. He has spent considerable time
in the US gaining a deep understanding of the
operations and needs of the corporate US market.
Andrew Thomas, Technical Director
A graduate of the University of Wolverhampton in the UK, Andrew has been developing software professionally for over 20 years. He developed in-house systems for the TI Group, before becoming International IT Manager of Apollo Sports Technologies based in Chicago, and then moving to Apollo West and Reynolds Cycle in San Diego. Andrew formed RMJ Computing Ltd. in 1998 becoming a freelance software developer, broadening his experience to the automotive industry with Softlab – the IT arm of Rover Group. He then moved to the public sector with Oak Systems Group and ZEDA ABM writing software for magistrates’ courts and police.
Andrew joined a UK based software developer in February 2000, developed their first commercial product, the award-winning e-commerce web-site creation tool eGenie, and then went on to develop a web-based local directory service local-shop.com, before specializing in travel systems. Andrew was Galileo-trained in London, and Sabre-trained in Dallas. During his career he has developed booking engines, fare management systems, low-cost carrier booking systems, a GDS profile management system, and itinerary retrieval systems. Andrew directs the eGlobalfares development team from the Malaysia office.
Michelle Pini, Manager/International Specialist
Michelle Pini has been in the travel industry
for over 15 years. Much of her knowledge and
expert training was gained at American Airlines.
Michelle graduated from American’s intensive
12 week International Tariff course and advanced
to assisting internal and external clients
with calculating complex international itineraries
and performing other international travel roles.
Michelle then joined Sabre as a Quality Assurance
Test Coordinator / Analyst where she helped
assure the success of Travelocity’s “Calendar
Based Pricing” enhancement, Sabre’s
global European Monetary Unit test effort and
several pricing-related projects for Japan
Airlines. Michelle’s accomplishments
were rewarded with a promotion to Sabre Account
Executive in Arlington, VA. Michelle joined
eGlobalfares in Jan. 2007 and helps add value
to the services we provide our customers.
Jim Sutrick, Assistant Manager/International Specialist
Jim Sutrick has been in the travel industry for over 20 years. Jim received expert training gained invaluable industry knowledge and experience at Adelman Travel Group, where he worked for over 12 years. Jim performed multiple roles from: International Travel Consultant to Senior National Support Specialist, to Training Manager. He has also held positions in Quality control, and the implementation and support of online booking tools. Jim brings to eGlobalfares his fluency on Sabre, Apollo and Worldspan GDS. Jim is a graduate from Lakeland University in Sheboygan, WI where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Education/Computer Science. We are very pleased that Jim joined eGlobalfares in March of 2008.
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