Mrs. Chicke Fitzgerald
Chief Executive Officer, Solutionz Group International, Inc.
Member of the Leisure & Lodging Council
Council Member Biography
Chicke Fitzgerald is the Chief Executive Officer of the Solutionz Group, a consulting company specializing in travel industry which she formed in 1995. She also recently founded the Solutionz Media Group and the Solutionz Live! social broadcasting network. Ms. Fitzgerald has over 30 years of experience in electronic distribution and marketing, specializing in the travel, transportation, and telecommunications industries. She specializes in strategic planning, joint venture partnerships, multi-channel distribution, marketing plan development and execution, business startup support, outsourcing, electronic distribution, and business process re-engineering. She has published a three book series on travel distribution. She has held executive positions at Sabre and Worldspan and has been a consultant to American Express, AAA, Cendant, Travelport, Amadeus, Panasonic, Motorola, Intel and Carlson Companies. (This is me - Update Profile)
Employment History
- 2006 - 2009
- Founder and Chief Executive Officer, LeisureLogix, LLC
- 1995 - Unspecified
- Chief Executive Officer, Solutionz Group International, Inc.
- 1994 - 1995
- Sr. Director, SITA Telecommunications/Equant
- 1992 - 1994
- Senior Director, Worldspan
- 1982 - 1992
- Sr. Director, SABRE HOLDINGS CORPORATION
GLG NewsSM Analyses by Chicke Fitzgerald(?)
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The downward trend on air ticket sales continues for the agency channel
January 22, 2010
Air Ticket Sales for 2009 were down 17.29% | www.arccorp.com
Year over year air ticket sales through the travel agency channel (both online and offline) declined 17.29% in 2009. Total sales were $65.8b, with $29.9b from domestic fares and $25.6b from international fares (with the balance being taxes and fees). There are 15,928 agencies in the US and 188 airlines. The number of agencies declined 10% from 17,673 in 2008. This is due to continued consolidation and to some extent, the closure of the low end agencies that cannot survive in today's economy. The number of airlines grew from 173. Who knew? The number of transactions (aka tickets) only declined 5.48%. International sales as a percentage of total declined just slightly to 39%. The average price of an international ticket declined 16% to $700.47 and a domestic ticket declined 12% to an average of $298.93, which signals an increase in sales through the top 4 online sites.
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All three key metrics in hospitality are down for 2009 - No surprises there
January 22, 2010
US hotel industry ends '09 with double-digit RevPAR drop | www.hotelnewsnow.com
The three top metrics in the hospitality industry are revenue per available room (RevPAR), occupancy and average daily room rate (ADR).Revenue per available room fell 16.7 percent to US$53.71 during 2009, according to year-end reports from Smith Travel Research.The industry’s occupancy fell 8.7 percent to 55.1 percent for the year and average daily rate dropped 8.8 percent to US$97.51. None of the top 25 markets showed any growth in these top 3 metrics.
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We need to better understand the entire automotive industry ecosystem
January 12, 2009
U.S. Drivers Keep Autos Longer, Shun Showrooms on Job-Loss Risk | www.bloomberg.com
I was on the phone the other day with a colleague from Freescale and I was frankly surprised to hear that the decline that they are seeing in their production/demand is due to the automotive meltdown. Because I'm only peripherally involved in the industry (through GPS and indash infotainment), I really didn't think through that car manufacturers were a primary consumer of semi-conductors.
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As oil continues its decline, can it prop up the travel industry's slumping profitability picture?
January 12, 2009
Oil Prices Hit $86 a Barrell | www.msnbc.msn.com
Jet fuel is one of the top 3 cost items for airlines. Since the summer of 2008, the price of oil has declined from $140 barrel to under $40 a barrel today. This should be very good news for investors in airline stocks, as it should directly flow to the bottom line if airline ticket prices hold steady. Likewise, cruise lines' profitability is closely tied to this volatile commodity and the major players in the cruise industry could benefit from the continued decline in pricing. But right now, what we face is a need to stimulate travel, which is normally done through price reductions. Will these suppliers pass on the cost reductions to consumers?
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The travel ecosystem is shifting, beginning with the GDSs and online players
January 8, 2009
Expedia Vet Takes Orbitz Helm, Sabre Vet Takes Travelocity Wheel | www.btnonline.com
Both Orbitz and Travelocity this week announced new leaders at the helm. Both have cut costs substantially due to reduced revenues and profitability. Orbitz now has a technology savvy, operationally capable, marketing focused executive who is talking already about social media, which implies new models afoot for the OTA. Orbitz had been outpaced by Expedia and Travelocity in the advertising model/social media capabilities, but does it really help them to do a "me too" offering to match Trip Advisor and iGoUGo? Just weeks ago, Amadeus founding CEO Jose Tazon stepped down in favor of his number two, David Jones, who had been the de facto day to day leader for some time, as Jose managed board and investor relationships with their private equity owners, BC and Cinven. Sabre puts its own COO at the helm of Travelocity, not replacing him in the Sabre organization, but instead splitting his job amongst his peers. Is it time to go from 3 GDS companies down to two?
GLG Study Groups with Chicke Fitzgerald(?)
GLG Live Meetings with Chicke Fitzgerald(?)
Chicke Fitzgerald has not participated in any GLG Live Meetings.