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Solombrino, Joe Carino to Serve as Allied Leadership Council President, VP

Alexandria, VA (September 21, 2009) - The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today revealed who will lead the Allied Leadership Council (ALC) for the next two years. Scott Solombrino, President & CEO of Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network, was reappointed as President. Joseph Carino, Jr., President of CARINO Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, will serve as the new Vice President. The ALC President and Vice President are also members of the NBTA Board of Directors.

NBTA President & CEO, Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, said, “Scott has been a tremendous leader throughout the corporate travel industry and at NBTA. Over the years, he has help to guide the supplier-buyer relationship to a new level of respect and collaboration. His expertise and professional excellence has reshaped the Allied Leadership Council over the past two years, and I’m confident he will continue to serve as a positive and powerful voice for the Allied membership and community.”

The ALC represents NBTA’s Allied, or supplier, members by increasing awareness of the Allied community and its needs. The Allied Leadership Council includes members who are appointed by the NBTA President for two-year terms, as well as two Allied members who are elected by NBTA's supplier community to serve on both the Board of Directors and the ALC.

Banikowski continued, “Both Scott and Joe are highly respected members of the global business travel community and will help to continue strengthening the supplier voice within NBTA through constant communication. As Scott has done over the past few years, I’ve asked them to again focus on international growth and relationship development. Both are dedicated to globalization and understand challenges and trends within the industry today.”

Solombrino has a career of more than 32 years in the chauffeured ground transportation industry. Under his leadership, Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network has expanded to be one of the largest privately-held transportation providers in the world, operating in more than 570 cities around the globe.

Solombrino has received numerous industry awards, including NBTA’s Industry Icon Award in 2007, NBTA’s Allied Member of the Year Award in 2002, and the New England Business Travel Association Award for Leadership and Professional Excellence in 2004. He is also Founder and Past President of both the Massachusetts Limousine Association and the National Limousine Association, from which he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

Joseph Carino, Jr. is responsible for overall performance and success of CARINO Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which he founded in January 2002. It was his vision that sparked this new company that now extends around the world supporting independent luxury hotels worldwide with sales, marketing and reservations.

Prior to launching CARINO Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Carino was with Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and SRS Worldhotels, and he gained on-property experience at The famed PLAZA Hotel and the RIHGA Royal Hotel in New York City. Carino has served on the NBTA Hotel Committee and is Past President of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Greater New York Chapter.

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates – NBTA Australia / New Zealand, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org