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AFTA has opened nominations for its National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA) with 36 award categories, including 27 “Most Outstanding” judged categories, seven “Most Popular” voted categories and two “People’s Choice” consumer campaigns.
This has expanded from 31 categories with additions to the Cruise, Airline, Tour Operator and Wholesaler categories, something AFTA attributes to the industry’s strong growth.
“These changes best reflect the expansion of scope of our industry and allow for the recognition of excellence across all parts of the Travel Industry Sector,” AFTA CEO Dean Long said.
This year’s awards will reintroduce the Business Events Travel Agency and Car Rental Operator categories, as well as a brand-new category, Innovation in Travel Support Services.
AFTA said that nominees for the travel consultant, agency, tour operator and wholesaler awards will need to be ATAS-accredited to “recognise their continued commitment to elevating the standards” of the sector.
This year’s NTIAs will also be introducing an awards management portal to streamline the nominee experience and make available the judging criteria to best craft applications.
Judging for the “Most Outstanding” Awards will continue to follow a 2-step process with finalists determined from submissions and judging from a panel selected by the NTIA Custodians.
While Judges have always been required to disclose any known conflicts, this year will see further enhancement of the integrity of the process with sponsors and trade media representatives no longer participating in judging.
“Most Popular” Supplier categories will be opened to industry voting, with the top 5 voted companies confirmed as finalists, and the top voted suppliers announced as the winner.
AFTA thanks our Custodians Ann-Catherine Jones, Barbara Whitten, Tony Gothard, Jean Summers, Damian Borg, Dick Webster and Chris Fundell for their ongoing help in shaping the NTIAs. The NTIA Custodians represent key markets within the travel industry, including retail, corporate, online, tour operator, wholesalers and suppliers.
The awards night will take place on Saturday 18th November at the Crown Palladium Ballroom in Melbourne. This is the first time the event will be held in Melbourne in almost 20 years.
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