The OTDS Association (Open Travel Data Standard) is committed to continuity: At its recent general meeting, the board was re-elected for another three-year term.
Ömer Karaca (Schmetterling International GmbH & Co. KG) continues to serve as chairman of the board. Deniz Uğur (Bentour Reisen AG) and Lothar Schmitz (Amadeus Leisure IT GmbH) serve as vice-chairs. Michael Becher (Bewotec GmbH), Thorsten Hendricks (Schauinsland-Reisen GmbH), Haiko Gerdes (Traso GmbH), and Michael Aubermann (a-five business solutions GmbH) round out the board.
Ömer Karaca commented on the re-election: “The endorsement by our members is a clear vote of confidence in our joint work to date. At the same time, it spurs us on to consistently further develop the OTDS Association and its framework in order to continuously improve data quality in the tourism industry.”
Also the positive membership growth demonstrates that the standard is firmly established in the industry: In 2025 and 2026, seven new companies from various sectors of the travel industry joined OTDS e.V. Most recently, Bader Kulturreisen and smartformance joined at the beginning of the year.