The OpenTravel Alliance announces Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research as the keynote speaker at its 2008 Advisory Forum.

Harteveldt will unveil the findings from a joint research project between Forrester Research and OpenTravel to understand attitudes within the travel industry towards industry standards-setting organizations and use of industry standards in XML development, and relate those findings toward distribution trends in the travel industry.

“As the travel industry’s online distribution capabilities continue to open up new markets and new segments, OpenTravel felt it was time to understand the role standards organizations play in the maturity of the distribution function,” said John Turato, vice president of technology at Avis Budget Group. “As an open standards body, we give away our XML schemas to any company in the travel industry – OpenTravel member or not – that believes in the concept of open standards and a consistent messaging language.”

Following the keynote presentation, Harteveldt will moderate a panel discussion with members of the OpenTravel board of directors. The group will discuss the findings of Forrester’s research and its impact on the future direction of standards development and OpenTravel’s strategic direction.