Our Senior Management

Ankur is VP, Information Security (CISO) in Fareportal. He is responsible for evolving information security posture by implementing strong security controls around people, process and technology to uplift overall security maturity within Fareportal.

Prior to Fareportal, he spent almost a decade working for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in information security consulting and helped PwC's clients in cyber risk, information security, online security, insider threat management, vulnerability management, application security and data privacy & protection space.

Ankur has worked across the Indian subcontinent, UK, US, UAE, Singapore, Africa and Europe and has served more than 70 clients across Travel, Airline, FinTech, Telecom, e-Commerce and IT/ITeS industries. He graduated with an MBA in IT from Symbiosis International University in Pune. He is an active contributor to the security community and has published multiple white papers and has held speaker positions in numerous security seminars.

“Bob Marten - Discovering resolutions through understanding the Business”
Being born in Kansas and raised throughout the US from Michigan to Florida - Philadelphia to Los Angeles, it’s no wonder he is passionate about travel. Bob’s been in the “Business” near 40 years and has a very unique understanding of both sides of the equation, having worked for Marriott to a variety of travel agencies as well as working the corporate side of travel.

Having a background ranging from GDS training to rate desk pricing, he understands how what looks simple can be overwhelming, but know what questions to ask and how to get resolutions that are agreeable to all parties involved.

Carolina joined Fareportal in 2006 with over 16 years of experience in the travel industry. She has worked on both the travel agency side and the airline side of the business. Currently, Carolina is responsible for managing a portfolio of airlines and other suppliers with an emphasis on the Latin American and Caribbean markets. She also works alongside other members of the Supplier Relations team on Fareportal’s international expansion and on increasing profitability for the company.

Carolina is a seasoned business executive with strong entrepreneurial skills. She is adept in developing strategic plans that pull all resources together to achieve mutual success across the team’s portfolios of suppliers. She has a passion for success that is achieved with excellent leadership, communication and negotiation skills.

Carolina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Travel Management.

Chema has spent the last two decades working for international airline organizations, most recently as Director Sales and Marketing for oneworld, the global airline alliance. In this role, Chema led the alliance’s worldwide joint commercial initiatives, from global corporate agreements to multilateral alliance fares and MICE solutions as well as global branding, loyalty and marketing.

Prior to joining the alliance’s central team, Chema spent 12 years with Iberia Airlines of Spain, his last role as Vice President Commercial, USA and Canada, where he led the organization in all areas of the business, from sales and marketing to overseeing operations, administration, cargo and maintenance units.

Chema is a US citizen, fluent in English and Spanish and holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, Arizona, and a BS in International Business Administration from the American University, Washington DC.

Corissa Leong joined Fareportal in 2008 to build a Global Human Resources Department. Prior to joining Fareportal, Corissa held HR roles in different industries such as hospitality, manufacturing, non-profit and security. She has thorough experience in all aspects of HR, including employee relations, talent management and acquisition, performance management, organization development, HR system, benefits and compliance.

Corissa holds a BS in Labor and Industrial Relations from Penn State University.

Kathi Moore joined Fareportal in 2016. She is a seasoned marketing and advertising professional with over 30 years of experience. In her career, she has orchestrated the growth and development of a diverse array of CPG and service brands. Kathi possesses expertise in all aspects of consumer marketing and advertising, with a unique focus on international and US multi-cultural.

Previous work includes Head of Marketing for Sydney, Australia-based HiLife Health & Beauty, and senior management roles at leading national advertising agencies whose clients have included some of the best known brands in the US marketplace. A passionate advocate of omni-channel, customer-focused marketing, Kathi leads Fareportal’s strategy in the areas of Branding, Offline Marketing, and Marketing Communications/Public Relations.

Manish Sharma VP, Finance – Controller, has many years of experience in senior level finance and accounting, and brings a wealth of knowledge in accounting and operations. Manish has experience managing Finance Audit and Operations Quality Control (AQC & OQC), and Operations Loss Prevention. As Controller, his responsibilities encompass overseeing areas of finance including: accounting, treasury, and budgeting and forecasting (FP&A).

Manish joined Fareportal in 2013 and has continued to exemplify the character of a solid, growth and profit oriented finance professional.

Marieke has over a decade of experience in leading large-scale transformations and change programs across different continents. She was a leader in AT Kearney’s Leadership, Change and Organization practice, working with CEOs and CHROs across different industries to build and elevate organizational capabilities. Born and raised in The Netherlands, Marieke studied, worked, and lived in 8 different countries before settling in New York City 4 years ago, where she is inspired by the diversity of cultures and ideas. As an economist, strategist, and global citizen, Marieke is extremely passionate about people and their potential and strongly believes it’s the biggest differentiating factor for any business.

Michael drives Email Marketing, Content and Social Media strategy and innovation for Fareportal’s industry-leading portfolio of travel brands. Prior to joining us in 2011, Michael was a member of the founding team at priceline.com and held various senior marketing positions of increasing responsibility at Starwood Hotels, College Sports Television (CSTV) and Pitney Bowes. Michael holds a BA in Communications from Boston College and is thrilled to be back in the travel space with Fareportal.

Michael joined Fareportal in 2017 as the Vice President of Mobile Strategy. He is a global mobile thought leader and his prior experience includes founding his own successful company also leading the mobile departments at two of the UK’s largest banks.

Prior to joining Fareportal, Michael was the co-founder and CEO of Parkhound – the Airbnb of parking. Founded in Australia, the company grew rapidly by disrupting the traditional car parking industry through an innovative mobile focused peer-to-peer business model. The company won numerous awards, rejected three investment offers on Shark Tank, and was subsequently acquired in 2017.

Prior to setting up his own business, Michael lived in London for five years and was Head of Mobile at Lloyds, the UK’s largest bank. During his time at the company he oversaw a number of strategic developments that resulted in a huge adoption spike for the channel. Before joining Lloyds, Michael was Head of Mobile at RBS and was responsible for rolling out a new suite of applications for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows.

Mike joined Fareportal in 2011 as the VP Online Marketing. Mike previously held senior marketing positions at Partsearch Technologies and Register.com. He started his marketing career at American Express, where he held multiple positions of increasing seniority over the course of nine years. Prior to starting his business career, Mike spent four years playing minor league baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Mike received his MBA from Columbia University. He also holds MS and BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah.

Murat oversees Fareportal's brands (CheapOair, OneTravel) and leads overall product strategy, product roadmaps, user experience, data science - analytics and revenue management for the company. Using his strong technology background, Murat helps build innovative products with great customer experiences that drive user engagement, retention, and high conversion & revenue for the company. He relies on analytics, qualitative research, competitive analysis and customer feedback to create the strategy and prioritize product roadmap.

Murat holds a MS in Management and Information Systems from Brooklyn College.

Myrelle joins us from Microsoft where she headed finance for the Consumer Business. With a degree in Electrical Engineering from GCOEP, Pune and a post graduate MBA in Finance from IIM Lucknow, Myrelle has extensive experience in finance, accounting, controls and compliance, commercial, pricing and operations roles and broad international exposure. Prior to Microsoft, Myrelle has done a wide variety of roles at IBM, Motorola and P&G.

Myrelle lives in Gurgaon with her husband and two sons. She loves to travel, to experience new places and to experiment with different types of cuisine.

Namrata joined Fareportal in March 2017. As part of her role as Head of Legal and member of its India leadership team, she advises Fareportal and its associate entities on a variety of legal matters. Prior to Fareportal, Namrata was with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) as Head of Legal, India & South West Asia (SWA). At IHG, Namrata was a member of the SWA leadership team and on its Board of Directors. Prior to IHG, Namrata served as Head of Legal at India’s premium LCC, IndiGo airline, and some of her select accomplishments there include being the youngest member of the Leadership Team, developing niche experience in areas of aircraft financing, having negotiated transactions with aircraft and engine manufacturers, aircraft financiers/lessors and several OEMs. Namrata reported into the President of the airline. Prior to IndiGo, Namrata was in private practice with Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, New Delhi.

Namrata is a proud mother of two avid footballers aged 11 and 14 years and her interests outside of work include baking, indulging in contemplative practices like yoga, meditation and running marathons.

Nikunj Dhawan, a Master in Information Technology and an MBA in Finance, is a goal oriented engineering executive with a keen eye on execution, organizational efficiency and long term strategy. His tenure at Fareportal began since its inception in 2002 and he is responsible for implementing Fareportal’s technologies, designing architectures, and setting forth the standards for all products and brands. He is up to date with the latest technologies, whilst managing all technology operations at Fareportal’s Development Center in India. He fully understands the business needs of the travel industry and has a strong sense of the human side of the equation.

Rajat joined Fareportal in 2016 to create a strong People and Operational excellence culture for the organization, focused towards scalability and efficiency. Prior to joining Fareportal, Rajat has held different roles in HR, Operations, Strategy, Quality, Training & Development and Talent acquisition. He is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Rajat holds an MBA in Finance and Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics.

Robert joined Fareportal in 2015 to globally lead the vendor procurement function by creating a strategic and on-the-ground, best-in-class process for our fast growing organization. Prior to joining Fareportal, Robert spent several years at Adecco Group North America as the Head of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement. He brings over 25 years of work experience in IT, global resource management, business process optimization, leveraging technology to gain competitive advantage, and using best procurement practices to deliver lower costs resulting in improved operational effectiveness.

Robert holds a BS in Computer Science from Marist College and a MS in Computer Science from Pace University.

Rob Wu is VP of Revenue Operations and Strategy. He supports Global Operations Business in developing a long-term omni-channel contact center strategy and revenue optimization plan. In addition, Rob directly oversees the Operations of Exchanges, Hotels, and Chats. Rob collaborates with Operations leadership to set annual financial plans (Operations P&L), to lead OKR development/deployment, and to manage MBRs (Monthly Business Reviews).

Ruben Bello, VP International Operations, joined Fareportal in 2011 with over 30 years of travel industry experience. Ruben is well versed in all aspects of the travel industry (Airline, Hotel, Leisure, Corporate, Consortia) with an expertise in call center operation management with a penchant for customer service excellence.

Ruben was the first to successfully implement unified data and telecoms solutions on a global scale, enhancing the Hickory Travel Systems International Travel Network and their partners. As a proven leader, Ruben led Hickory’s International Team with the development and expansion of travel agency networks in Central/Latin America, Europe, Asia and South Africa. He has served as the C.O.O for Hickory Travel Systems and VP of Operations for the Wall Street Journal Travel and as an industry consultant.

Winner of the 2015 Gold Stevie Award for Customer Service Executive of the Year!

Sanjay joined Fareportal in January 2007. He is an experienced senior level executive with over 20 years of experience and deep understanding of Travel Agency, Airlines and OTA’s.

Sanjay started his career at Hemas International (Pvt) Travel in Sri Lanka, he spent a major part of his career in the Middle East with KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines where he focused on Revenue Management and Outside Sales.

Prior to joining Fareportal, Sanjay was Sales Manager at Trade Wind Associates, USA (PSA for Gulf Air and GSA for Air Sahara).

Sanjay is currently part of a leadership group, which spearheads strategic partnerships, along with negotiating and maintaining supplier contracts in North America and overseas to ensure the company remains competitive.

Sanjay holds a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from Sri Lanka.

Tom was the original founder of CheapSeats, Inc., (www.cheapseats.com), which started in 1987 and was sold to a travel investment group in 2000. He continued as President of the new entity, which rebranded itself as 1800CheapSeats, Inc., from 2000-2007. He then became Senior Vice President of OneTravel.com in 2007. He has been in the travel industry for twenty-nine years.

Tom is heavily involved in leading and creating a culture of continuous business improvement, implementing and creating innovative client-centric solutions. He was an innovator in the Airline Consolidator business and started one of the first travel companies that related directly to airline consolidation. He was also very instrumental in unique supplier negotiations and creating lasting relationships with a variety of travel suppliers throughout all verticals in the travel industry, many of which still exist today.

As a seasoned business executive he is especially skilled in developing strategic plans, developing and building top-producing business relationships in the travel industry globally, and using all facets of the industry to grow successful businesses.

Tom attended Pierce College in Southern California.

Veronica joined Fareportal in 2007 with over 20 years of experience in corporate travel, specializing in client and vendor data/reporting solutions, quality management and operational streamlining. She is responsible for the integration between Fareportal’s online booking tool and the GDS systems, and inter-departmental automated processes and procedures.

Veronica has a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics with emphasis in Electronic Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Vikas joins Fareportal as an entrepreneurial product and technology executive with 18+ years of experience in building businesses, teams and software applications to drive revenue, expand customer bases and increase profitability. He has a proven track record in implementing technology solutions for a variety of businesses including eCommerce, healthcare, travel, education and financial services.

Vikas has a Management degree from the Indian Institute of Management.

Vinay is a seasoned travel and contact center professional who brings 20 years of International experience in global roles across the travel contact center business. He has specific expertise in running & governing large contact center operations with a hands-on approach in managing functions like core operations, business excellence & training. Vinay was earlier with WNS and the InterGlobe group where he spent 8 years of his tenure setting up several global contact centers’ as well as operated as head of operations for these centers. He was also the CEO of a Mid-sized company based in Mumbai, India prior to joining Fareportal. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Karnataka University as well as a Master’s in Business Management.