Jack Revel never meant to become a travel agent. Nor did he ever think he would develop a computer system that would change the travel agency industry. That system is marking its 40th anniversary this year.
His father, Sam, founded revel Travel, a Beverly Hills, CA, agency that caters to the entertainment industry, in 1933 and Revel%u2019s parents hoped he would join the family business.He had other ideas. He went off to New York and got a degree in engineering. But he was lured back to California, enticed by the number of technology companies in the Los Angeles area.
He decided to work at his parent%u2019s agency while he looked for an engineering job, never intending it to be permanent. %u201CI figured I%u2019d do it for a year,%u201D he said. But when American Airlines introduced its Semi-Automated Business Research Environment, or Sabre, to travel agencies in 1976, Revel%u2019s life in the travel agency and his engineering aspirations began to converge.
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