11 December 2024, London: Travalyst, the not-for-profit coalition of some of the biggest names in travel and technology, founded by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, announces the appointment of Gianni Marostica as its new Chair of the Board.
Marostica has already played a pivotal role supporting Travalyst on its mission, to bring sustainable travel information to the mainstream, during his leadership at Google. Marostica, who recently retired as Head of Global Business Development at Google – a partner of Travalyst – played a key role in getting flight emissions information into the hands of travellers globally. The Travel Impact Model, which estimates lifecycle emissions for flights, was developed by Google and scaled through the Travalyst coalition, resulting in flight emissions information appearing in over 65 billion flight searches globally1.
Marostica is a seasoned executive with over three decades of leadership experience spanning the travel and technology sectors. Preceding his thirteen years at Google, he held leadership positions at ITA Software and Sabre – another partner of Travalyst – with a proven track record of pioneering innovation and forging transformative partnerships within the global travel ecosystem. He is also a passionate advocate for nature and conservation, with long standing interest and involvement in conservation.
Gianni Marostica, Travalyst’s Chair of the Board says “Travalyst’s mission deeply resonates with me. Travel connects us to the world, and it should come with a responsibility to protect it. The sector has widespread repercussions on climate, communities, biodiversity, economic equity, and more. By making sustainability data accessible for travellers, we can empower everyone to make more informed choices that preserve the joys of travel and the planet for future generations. I look forward to working with this exceptional coalition to drive this mission forward.”
Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst says “Travalyst is an independently governed not-for-profit; as a neutral organisation we are accountable only to the planet, and are uniquely positioned to coordinate system-wide collaboration and catalyse change. Gianni is the very definition of a change-maker; he has consistently leveraged his leadership roles to champion and drive progress towards a better future, and I am delighted that we get to continue working together. His experience in technology, aviation and conservation will be essential as Travalyst focuses on scaling sustainability information for accommodation and beyond.”
Marostica takes over from India Gary-Martin as Chair of the Board. Gary-Martin stepped down earlier this year to focus on her own business – Leadership For Execs – where she works with organisations on leadership development, diversity, equity, and inclusion. During the transition, Dr Sally Uren, CEO of Forum for the Future and long-standing Travalyst Board member stepped in as interim Chair. Travalyst thanks both Gary-Martin and Uren for their vision, guidance and leadership during a period of growth for the organisation which has tripled in size in the last 12 months.
Marostica’s appointment comes at a transformative time for Travalyst as the coalition continues its expansion. The Travel Corporation (TTC), operating since 1920 and comprising more than 20 brands, is the latest travel player to join Travalyst. TTC has always prioritised sustainability and believes that travel is of equal importance for the visitor and the visited. This latest partnership, as well as Marostica’s deep expertise, will be instrumental in advancing Travalyst’s mission to secure a more sustainable travel and tourism sector for the next generation.
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1 The number that Travalyst has aggregated from its partners is estimated from the number of flight searches where the Travel Impact Model (TIM) emissions estimates were surfaced. It is aggregated from data collected between the launch date of the TIM by Google in October 2021 through April 2024. Read the press release here.
About Travalyst’s Board
The Board is composed of individuals with world-class expertise in impact, systems change, not-for-profit governance, advocacy, and campaigning for a just and sustainable world.
About Travalyst
Founded in 2019 by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Travalyst is a not-for-profit global coalition of some of the biggest brands in travel and technology: Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Mastercard, Sabre, Skyscanner, The Travel Corporation, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa. The group represents a combined market cap of almost $3tn. Travalyst aims to bring sustainability information to the mainstream to help people make more informed travel choices.
About Gianni Marostica
A dynamic and results-oriented executive with over 30 years of global leadership experience in P&L management, Business Development, execution, strategic partnerships, and commercial strategy within the travel and technology sectors. Gianni’s travel experience has been in the Airline, Hotelier and OTA sectors. He has led two software companies in both decision support, search, and mission critical software. Gianni worked at Google for 13.5 years, as the head of Global Business Development, responsible for all Travel and Local products including Flight Search, Hotel search, Things to do and Dining (restaurants and food ordering). Prior to Google, Gianni served as Chief Commercial Officer at ITA Software, a privately held startup in Cambridge, MA, offering pricing and shopping solutions to the industry. Gianni also served as President, Airline Passenger Solutions at Sabre Holdings Corp, providing mission critical and decision support software solutions to suppliers and intermediaries. He also served as the Managing Partner for Worldwide Consulting. His international assignments have been in Montreal, Paris, and Rome where he participated in or led the turnaround efforts for the privatization of three companies. He graduated with an MBA from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia in Montreal, Canada where he was born. Gianni currently serves on the board of a non-profit and is involved in mentoring.
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