Friday 28 January 2011

Last night almost 500 guests attended the Irish Travel Industry Awards ceremony at the Round Room in Dublin’s Mansion House.

Craig Doyle, Master of Ceremonies for the evening revealed the winners of the inaugural awards to both travel agents and  travel industry suppliers at this inaugural Awards Ceremony.

Welcoming guests, Irish Travel Agents Association President, Pat Dawson said the Awards marked the resilience and optimism of an industry that had seen coped with extraordinary shocks during 2010

The winner of the 1st Irish Travel Agent of the Year Award was Lee Travel in Cork.  The judges explained they had based their decision on the all round excellence of this long established firm and also its determination to expand during a period of adversity – opening 3 new offices in 2010.

Speaking at the Awards, Declan  O’Connell, Managing Director of Lee Travel declared himself very honoured and paid tribute to the dedication of his staff.  He also invited guests to have a thought for those who had had to leave the industry in recent times.

Winners of other Travel Agent Awards were
Young Travel Professional of the Year: Breda Riordan (Ace Travel)
Most Innovative Agency: FCm Travel Solutions
Best Corporate Travel Agency: Carlson Wagonlit Travel

Winners of Supplier awards on the night included Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Aer Lingus and Amadeus – each of whom one two separate awards.  Please find a full list of Winners here.

Charitable dimension.   The Society of St Vincent de Paul was named as the beneficiary of a raffle on the evening and almost €7,000 was raised from guests on the night,  The  raffle with excellent prizes was rounded off appropriately when Jim Sharkey – an ITAA past President -won 2 long haul BA World Traveller Plus tickets.   Separately, the organisers presented the ITAA Benevolent Fund with a cheque for €5,000 out of the proceeds of the table sales for the evening.

Guests at the evening had a thoroughly enjoyable time.  After the Ceremony, dancing started in the Mansion House to the music spun by London DJ Dylan Amlott.  Dedicated party animals continued the evening in Pink night club where Travelcube had organised complementary admission for Awards guests.

Independent Newspaper features Awards story 2/2/2011. Click here to view.

Sunday Independent

Award Winners:

Young Travel Professional of the Year
Breda Riordan (Ace Travel)

Most Innovative Agency
FCm Travel Solutions

Best Corporate Travel Agency
Carlson Wagonlit Travel

Travel Agent of the Year
Lee Travel

Best European City Destination -  JOINT WINNERS
Barcelona
Paris

Best Worldwide City Destination
New York

Best Sun Destination
Algarve

Best Winter Sun Destination
Lanzarote

Best Winter Ski Destination
Austria

Best Accommodation Only Provider
BookaBed

Best Technology Provider
Amadeus

Best Car Rental Provider
Holiday Autos

Best Travel Insurance Provider
Accident & General

Best Destination Support Services Provider
Spanish Tourist Board

Best Sales Support Team
Amadeus

Best Cruise Company
Royal Caribbean

Best Luxury Cruise Company
Celebrity Cruises

Best Ferry Company
Irish Ferries

Best Short Haul Tour Operator
Sunworld

Best Long Haul Tour Operator
Sunway

Best Ski Tour Operator
Topflight

Best Specialist Tour Operator
Discover Travel

Best Short Haul Airline
Aer Lingus

Best Medium Haul Airline
Aer Lingus

Best Long Haul Airline
Etihad