Finalists Announced for Irish Travel Industry Awards in association with Aer Lingus

Dublin, 12^th January 2018   The shortlist for the Irish Travel Industry Awards in association with Aer Lingus has been released today. The winners will be announced and presented with their awards at a ceremony in the historic Round Room of the Mansion House, Dublin on Thursday 25^th January.  Over 500 travel professionals will attend and the MC for the night will be the well-known TV and Radio broadcaster, Miriam O’Callaghan.

The Irish Travel Industry Awards, now in their eight-year, are the premier awards for suppliers and agents in the travel industry in Ireland. The awards are an initiative of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), in association with Aer Lingus, and supported by Travelsavers, Travelcentres and Worldchoice.

The annual event is designed to showcase excellence within the industry and the difficult job of judging the Member Award Winners falls to an independent panel of judges, chaired by Bill Smith.

Speaking about the awards, Cormac Meehan, President of the ITAA, said “The Irish Travel Industry Awards celebrate excellence among travel professionals and providers in Ireland and offer suppliers and ITAA members the opportunity to boost their profile and reputation within the industry. I would like to congratulate each of our very deserving nominees, to be nominated for an award is, in itself, a wonderful achievement, and I wish them the best of luck on awards night.”

He added, “We are also thrilled to welcome Aer Lingus as this year’s title sponsor and are looking forward to working with them on what will be the biggest and best Travel Industry Awards night yet.”

The event is organised on behalf of the ITAA by Business Exhibitions Limited. Award categories are sponsored by Amadeus, American Airlines, British Airways, Cork Airport, Dublin Airport, Hertz, Ireland West Airport Knock, PortAventura, Riveria Travel and Turkish Airlines.  The event is also sponsored by Emirates, Independent News & Media, Shannon Airport and The Travel Corporation.

For more information on the awards event please see www.irishtravelindustryawards.com

Irish Travel Industry Awards 2018 ITAA Member Finalists are:

BEST ITAA LEISURE TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL – SPONSORED BY PORTAVENTURA

• Joanna Gomez – Travel Focus
• Georgina Kelly – The Travel Broker
• Leslie Marshall – Tour America

BEST ITAA CORPORATE TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL – SPONSORED BY PORTAVENTURA

• Cara Barry – Corporate Travel Management
• Louise Dunne & Karen Ray (Job Share) – The Travel Broker
• Ashling Mee – FCM Travel Solutions

BEST ITAA MEMBER BRICKS & MORTAR MARKETING CAMPAIGN – SPONSORED BY PORTAVENTURA

• Cassidy Travel
• Shandon Travel
• Tour America

BEST ITAA MEMBER DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN – SPONSORED BY PORTAVENTURA

• Cassidy Travel
• Click & Go
• Manning Travel

BEST ITAA GENERAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN – SPONSORED BY PORTAVENTURA

• Click & Go
• Grenham Travel
• Tour America

BEST ITAA CORPORATE TRAVEL AGENCY – SPONSORED BY AMADEUS

• Corporate Travel Management
• FCM Travel Solutions
• HRG Ireland

ITAA TRAVEL AGENCY OF THE YEAR – UNDER 10 EMPLOYEES – SPONSORED BY AMADEUS

• Grogan Travel
• Manning Travel
• The Travel Broker

ITAA TRAVEL AGENCY OF THE YEAR – OVER 10 EMPLOYEES – SPONSORED BY AMADEUS

• Click & Co
• Club Travel
• Tour America

Irish Travel Industry Awards 2018 ITAA Supplier Finalists Are:

AIR TRAVEL CATEGORY – SPONSORED BY DUBLIN AIRPORT

BEST AIRLINE TO EUROPE

• Aer Lingus
• British Airways
• KLM
• Ryanair
• Turkish Airlines

BEST BUSINESS CLASS AIRLINE TO EUROPE

• Air France
• British Airways
• KLM
• SAS
• Turkish Airlines

BEST AIRLINE TO NORTH AMERICA

• Aer Lingus
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Delta Airlines
• United Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

BEST LONG HAUL AIRLINE

• Aer Lingus
• Emirates
• Etihad Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

TOUR OPERATOR CATEGORY – SPONSORED BY HERTZ

BEST EUROPEAN SUN TOUR OPERATOR

• Classic Collection
• Click&Go
• Sunway
• Topflight
• TUI

BEST ESCORTED TOUR OPERATOR

• G Adventures
• Insight Vacations
• Riviera Travel
• Sunway
• Wendy Wu

BEST SPECIALIST TOUR OPERATOR

• Classic Resorts
• Crystal Holidays
• Discover Travel
• G Adventures
• Travel Focus

BEST LONG HAUL TOUR OPERATOR

• Classic Resorts
• If Only
• Intrepid Travel
• Sunway
• Travel Focus

CRUISE & FERRY CATEGORY – SPONSORED BY TURKISH AIRLINES

BEST MAIN STREAM CRUISE COMPANY

• Olsen Cruise Line
• MSC Cruises
• Norwegian Cruise Line
• Princess Cruises
• Royal Caribbean International

BEST PREMIUM CRUISE COMPANY

• Celebrity Cruises
• Cunard Cruises
• Holland Ameria
• Oceania Cruises
• Silversea Cruises

BEST SPECIALIST CRUISE COMPANY (INCLUDING RIVER)

• AMA Waterways
• CroisiEurope
• Riviera Travel
• Uniworld River Cruises
• Viking River Cruises

BEST ULTRA LUXURY CRUISE COMPANY

• Azamara Cruises
• Crystal Cruises
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises
• Seabourn Cruises
• Silversea Cruises

BEST FERRY COMPANY

• Brittany Ferries
• Irish Ferries
• Stena Line

AGENCY SERVICES PROVIDER CATEGORY – SPONSORED BY RIVIERA TRAVEL

BEST TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER

• Amadeus
• Dolphin Dynamics
• Proactive Labs
• Travelport
• Zendesk

BEST CAR HIRE COMPANY

• Affordable Car Hire
• Avis
• Flexible Car Hire
• Hertz
• Your Car Hire

BEST TRAVEL INSURANCE PROVIDER

• Accident & General
• AIG
• AXA Insurance
• Blue Insurance
• Worldwide Insurance

BEST TOURIST BOARD

• Dubai
• Las Vegas
• New York
• Portuguese Tourist Board
• Spanish Tourist Board

BEST ACCOMMODATION ONLY PROVIDER

• Arrow Tours
• Bedsonline
• Bookabed
• Innstant Travel
• Travelcube

SUPPLIER STAFF / TRAVEL MEDIA CATEGORY – SPONSORED BY IRELAND WEST AIRPORT

BEST SUPPLIER SUPPORT TEAM

• Aer Lingus
• Bookabed
• Emirates
• MSC Cruises
• Sunway

BEST SUPPLIER REPRESENTATIVE

• Audrey Headon – Headon Representation
• Rebecca Kelly – MSC Cruises
• Thomas McNally – Bedsonline
• Lee Osborne – Bookabed
• Martin Penrose – If Only

BEST TRAVEL MEDIA AWARD

• TravelBiz
• Travel Extra
• TravelMedia.ie

DESTINATIONS CATEGORY – SPONSORED BY BRITISH AIRWAYS AND AMERICAN AIRLINES

BEST WORLDWIDE CITY DESTINATION

• Dubai
• Hong Kong
• Las Vegas
• New York
• San Franciso

BEST EUROPEAN CITY DESTINATION

• Amsterdam
• Barcelona
• Krakow
• Lisbon
• Rome

BEST SUMMER DESTINATION

• Italy
• Greece
• Lanzarote
• Portugal
• Spain

BEST WINTER DESTINATION

• Dubai
• Gran Canaria
• Lanzarote
• Las Vegas
• Portugal

BEST WORLDWIDE THEME PARK

• Disneyland Paris
• PortAventura
• Tayto Park
• Universal Orlando Resort
• Walt Disney World Resort

ENDS