Lee Pillsbury to join board of data firm Adara

Industry veteran Leland “Lee” Pillsbury is joining the board of global travel data platform Adara as an independent director.

Industry veteran Leland “Lee” Pillsbury is joining the board of global travel data platform Adara as an independent director.

Pillsbury brings more than 40 years of travel industry experience to the California-based company.

He began his career with 19 years at Marriott, where he rose to the position of executive vice president, revamping the group’s pricing strategies and creating the industry’s first revenue and yield management systems.

Pillsbury has launched and directed almost 20 companies since then. He is co-founder and co-chairman of Thayer Lodging Group, founder of the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at the Cornell School of Hospitality Administration, a senior advisor at Thayer Ventures – an early-stage investor in Adara – and chairman of Interstate Hotels.

Company chairman and chief executive, Layton Han, said: “We are very pleased to have Lee join our board as an independent director. He will bring not just an indefatigable entrepreneurial spirit, but a scope of knowledge and influence in the global travel industry that is unparalleled.

“Lee is a widely-respected leader in the travel business and the highest echelons of the corporate world – a true industry influencer – and we are thrilled to have him join the board.”

Pillsbury said: “In an era of rapid change and disruption, Adara provides products, services and deep insights that are helping suppliers make sense of the landscape and grow their businesses. I look forward to helping get that message out to industry leaders worldwide.”