Kedar Benegal

VP of Product and Innovation Apple Leisure Group, a part of Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Kedar Benegal is the Vice President of Product and Innovation at Apple Leisure Group Vacations (ALGV), a part of Hyatt Hotels Corporation. With a passion for leveraging technology to enhance customer experience, Kedar is instrumental in driving product development and innovation across ALGV’s B2C and B2B brands, which include CheapCaribbean, Southwest Vacations, Apple Vacations, and FunJet. Kedar’s scope also includes general management of Southwest Vacations, a strategic partnership between ALGV and Southwest Airlines.

In his nearly 20 years in the travel industry, Kedar has held leadership roles in Marketing, Strategy, Finance, and Operations at notable firms including Travelocity, lastminute.com, Zuji, Sabre, and Amadeus. Additionally, he founded and led a venture capital-backed travel technology start-up called KeepTrax. Kedar is an active advisor in the DFW start-up community and also serves as a mentor at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University. As a soon-to-be empty nester, Kedar is excited to ramp up his leisure travel and check off some of the more exotic destinations from his bucket list.