As you may have heard, we held our inaugural Australian Travel Awards last week – and boy, was it a cracker.
The sell-out event saw 450 of the Aussie travel industry’s best and brightest flock to Sydney’s Paddington Town Hall to celebrate an amazing year for the industry – and we couldn’t have been prouder to host you all.
Over the course of the night, some of the best companies around were awarded in 35 categories, plus a Grand Prix prize for the most impressive entry overall.
ICYMI, that award went to…Intrepid! They’ve won an advertising package worth over $75,000 across the Seven West Media network, plus unlimited bragging rights until the end of time.
You can find the rest of the winners here, as well as all the happy snaps from the event here, here and here.
Over 50 esteemed judges from the travel industry went through hundreds of entries to find the winners – and we can’t thank them enough for their efforts in the weeks leading up to the awards.
So what set the winning companies apart?
Well, we picked out our fave comments on some of the category winners – so you can see for yourselves why these companies came out on top.
Check them out below:
Expedition Cruise Line of the Year – PONANT Yacht Cruises & Expeditions
“Outstanding focus on responsible expedition cruising, with allowance for different passenger mobility and activity levels.”
Ocean Cruise Line of the Year – Crystal Cruises
“Stand out results from an excellent local team and committed owners, plus some pioneering destinations.”
“Pedigree of winning awards and consistently voted best in class. Achieving good growth is impressive.”
PR Campaign of the Year – Tourism Australia
“Just occasionally, tourism campaigns hit the ball right out of the park. This is one of them. Great job!”
“Excellent targeting and use of celebrities. Best of all, a welcome positive approach recognising the burden of negative news carried by the audience.”
Wholesaler of the Year – Excite Holidays
“A fantastic submission which truly demonstrated what a huge year Excite Holidays had and how much is to come! Congratulations.”
Luxury Travel Brand of the Year – Uniworld
“A distinctive quality product with a high level of personalisation onboard, and a dynamic sales team in Australia.”
“This is an exceptional entry, detailing specific and impressive achievements in a cluttered market.”
Adventure Wholesaler of the Year – G Adventures
“Inspiring! Congratulations on being a company so driven by such a worthy purpose.”
Trade Sales Team of the Year – Contiki
“A simple, yet sophisticated approach is truly impressive. The goals are well set and then tracked, and they come across as a very coordinated team. Congrats!”
“Strong submission with clear evidence of a thoroughly considered and executed program of trade engagement that strongly supports staff and the agency network.”
Social Media Campaign of the Year – Air New Zealand
“Excellent entry and innovation from a significant brand.”
Tourism Board of the Year – Tourism New Zealand
“Tourism New Zealand are setting the benchmark when it comes to sustainable growth. It is impressive to see their efforts being put into place to further enrich their destination and prevent from over tourism.”
Congrats to all our winners again!
