Issues & Trends – July 2013
Emirates, Flight Centre headline 2013 NTIA winners
EMIRATES has been named inter-national airline of the year and Flight Centre has taken out the title of best travel agency group at the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards held before 1200 industry members who packed out the event’s new venue, Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
Emirates and Flight Centre were two of 33 award winners announced at a gala dinner kicked off in spectacular fashion with a surprise performance by singer-songwriter Jessica Mauboy.
Double award winners included APT (best international based cruise operator and best domestic tour operator), Air Tickets (best agency support service and best travel agent technology innovation) and Flight Centre (whose wholesale subsidiary, Infinity, added the best international product wholesaler award to the company’s best travel agency group award).
“There was an incredibly high standard across all nominees and the selection of finalists and winners really attested to that,” said AFTA chief executive Jay Westbury.
The full list of award winners were:
Best Travel Agency Group (100 outlets or more) – Flight Centre
Best Retail Travel Agency (single location) – Harvey World Travel Lane Cove
Best Retail Travel Agency (multi location) – Phil Hoffmann Travel
Best Corporate Travel Agency (single location) – Spencer Travel
Best Corporate Travel Agency (multi location) – Corporate Traveller
Best National Travel Management Company – Corporate Travel Management
Best Business Events Travel Agency – Event Travel Management
Best Retail Travel Consultant – Jenny Cooper (Queanbeyan City Travel and Cruise, NSW)
Best Corporate Travel Consultant – Fiona Hyde (Voyager Travel, Victoria)
Best Retail Travel Agency Manager – Michelle Nievaart (Flight Centre, Garden City, WA)
Best Corporate Travel Agency Manager – Shelley Leven (Corporate Travel Management, QLD)
Rookie Of The Year – Agent – Nicholas Lowes (Jetset, Norwood SA)
Best Niche Wholesaler The Africa Safari Co– Best Domestic Airline Qantas
Best Online International Airline – Emirates
Best Offline International Airline – Finnair
Best Cruise Operator – Australian-based – Operation Royal Caribbean International
Best Cruise Operator – International-based Operation – APT
Best Domestic Tour Operator – APT
Best International Tour Operator – Trafalgar
Best Car-Campervan Rental Operation – Hertz
Best Tourist Office – National – Tourism and Events Queensland
Best Tourist Office International – Dubai Tourism
Best Wholesaler – Australian Product – Qantas Holidays and Viva! Holidays
Best Wholesaler – International Product – Infinity
Best Agency Support – Service Air Tickets
Best Sales Executive – Industry Supplier – Suzy McPhail (Trafalgar, Victoria)
Rookie Of The Year – Supplier – Stephen Galloni (Contiki, NSW)
Best Hotel-Resort – Australian Property – Palazzo Versace
Best Hotel-Resort Group – Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
Best Registered Travel Industry Training Institution – William Angliss Institute of TAFE, Victoria
Best Travel Agent Technology Innovation – Smart Tickets Online Revalidation and Re-issue
Air Tickets
• Don’t miss our full coverage of all the NTIA action in the next (August) issue of travelBulletin.
