Travellers Choice takes out Best Travel Agency Group at 2015 National Travel Industry Awards.
Tonight more than 1,200 of Australia’s top travel agents, suppliers and industry stakeholders gathered in Sydney for the 2015 National Travel Industry Awards. The night of nights saw a trio of awards go to APT- Best Tour Operator Domestic and International as well as Best River Cruise Operator – while other multiple winners included Infinity Holidays which took home both Best Wholesaler Domestic and International categories. Royal Caribbean was named the Best Cruise Operator – International Deployment while its Celebrity Solstice was named Best Cruise Ship – Domestic Deployment.
It was a big night for Bicton Travel which won the Best Travel Agency – Retail Single Location category along with Best Travel Consultant – Retail which was won by Phil Smethurst. Finnair won Best International Airline – Offline for the third year running; Emirates took home the Best International Airline – Online category and Qantas was named the Best Domestic Airline. The new Best Online Travel Agency category was taken out by Global Journeys, while Magellan Travel Group took out the new Best Non-Branded Travel Agency Group category.
The full list of winners is as follows:
- Rookie of the Year – Agent (sponsored by Travelport) – Jonathan Pichaloff from helloworld Newcastle Corporate
- Best Travel Consultant – retail (sponsored by Royal Caribbean) – Phil Smethurst from Bicton Travel
- Best Travel Consultant – corporate (sponsored by Avis) – Ric Pattaro from TravelManagers
- Best Travel Agency Manager – Retail Single Location (sponsored by Virgin Australia) – Uschi Howard from The Travel Authority Northern Beaches
- Best Travel Agency Manager – Corporate Single Location (sponsored by Virgin Australia) – Kerby Reimer from Complete Business Travel
- Best Travel Agency Manager – Retail Multi Location (sponsored by World’s Leading Cruise Lines) – Lisa Tjandi from helloworld Hunter Travel Group
- Best Travel Agency Manager – Corporate Multi Location (sponsored by Cover-More) – Kingsley Dawes from Carlson Wagonlit Travel
- Best Travel Agency – Retail Single Location (sponsored by Singapore Airlines) – Bicton Travel
- Best Travel Agency – Retail Multi Location (sponsored by Qantas) – helloworld Hunter Travel Group/RACT Travel
- Best Travel Agency – Corporate Single Location (sponsored by Qantas) – Goldman Travel Corporation
- Best Travel Agency – Corporate Multi Location (sponsored by Avis) – World Travel Professionals
- Best Business Events Travel Agency (sponsored by Cover-More) – Event Travel Management
- Best National Travel Management Company (sponsored by Qantas) – FCm Travel Solutions
- Best Travel Agent Technology Innovation (sponsored by Qantas Credit Union) – Amadeus Ticket Changer by Amadeus IT Pacific
- Best Travel Writer (sponsored by World’s Leading Cruise Lines) – Louise Goldsbury
- Best Registered Travel Industry Training Institution (sponsored by ASEAN) – Franklyn Scholar
- Best Hotel Resort Group (sponsored by Expedia) – Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts
- Rookie of the Year – Supplier (sponsored by Greece & Mediterranean Travel) – Cam McDonell from G Adventures
- Best Sales Executive – Industry Supplier (sponsored by Royal Caribbean) – Stella Hritis from Trafalgar
- Best Agency Support Service (sponsored by The Travel Doctor) – Cover-More Travel Insurance
- Best Tourist Office – International (sponsored by Global Blue) – Dubai Tourism
- Best International Airline – Offline (sponsored by Consolidated Travel) – Finnair
- Best International Airline – Online (sponsored by The Travel Corporation) – Emirates
- Best Domestic Airline (sponsored by Air Tickets) – Qantas Airways
- Best Car/Campervan Rental Operator (sponsored by Expedia) – Hertz
- Best Online Travel Agency (sponsored by Amadeus) – Global Journeys
- Best Specialty Wholesaler (sponsored by South African Tourism) – Insider Journeys
- Best Tour Operator – Domestic (sponsored by Travel Trade Recruitment) – APT
- Best Wholesaler – Australian Product (sponsored by AccorHotels) – Infinity Holidays
- Best Tour Operator – International (sponsored by Dubai Tourism) – APT
- Best Wholesaler – International Product (sponsored by AA Appointments) – Infinity Holidays
- Best Cruise Ship – Domestic Deployment (sponsored by AA Appointments) – Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Solstice
- Best River Cruise Operator (sponsored by helloworld) – APT
- Best Cruise Operator – International Deployment (sponsored by Gow-Gates) – Royal Caribbean International
- Emirates Travel Consultant Scholarship (sponsored by Emirates) – Jamie-Lee Holloway from helloworld Kotara
- Best Non-Branded Travel Agency Group (sponsored by Star Alliance) – Magellan Travel Group
- Best Travel Agency Group (sponsored by Qantas) – Travellers Choice
See Travel Daily all of next week and the August edition of travelBulletin for full exclusive NTIA coverage.