The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) has revealed the 2019 list of National Travel Industry Award (NTIA) nominees – and a prominent travel industry group is back, following a change of category name. Voting begins today.
This year sees ‘Best Mobile Travel Advisor Network’ and ‘Best Mobile Travel Advisor’ listed as categories.
Last year, ‘Best Mobile Travel Advisor Network’ was called ‘Best Broker Travel Network’ – which led to the withdrawal of TravelManagers, which had been nominated consistently over the nine previous years.
The definition of “broker” is a person who buys and sells goods or assets for others, and TravelManagers didn’t consider the description fitted the role of its personal travel managers (PTMs).
As TravelManagers’ chief operating officer, Grant Campbell, explained at the time – in previous years TravelManagers was nominated in the ‘Best Travel Agency Retail – Multi Location’ category. In 2018, however, the company was nominated in a newly-created category: ‘Best Broker Travel Network’.
Accordingly, TravelManagers withdrew, graciously, with Campbell saying: “AFTA were respectful of our decision to decline and have invited us to suggest an alternative category name for use in future years.”
Last year’s NTIA Gala Dinner – big night gets underway
The problem has now been sorted out and the category name change has arrived. TravelManagers has been nominated, along with some of its competitors, in two categories: ‘Best Mobile Travel Advisor Network’ and ‘Best Mobile Travel Advisor’. Additionally, a TravelManagers PTM, Dom Cannon, is among nominees in the ‘Consultant of the Year – Ski’ category.
Competing in the ‘Best Mobile Travel Advisor Network’ category are: MTA – Mobile Travel Agents; Smartflyers Australia; Travel Counsellors; Travel Partners, and TravelManagers Australia.
The 2019 NTIA line-up includes 44 categories and hundreds of names. Voting starts for selected categories today (Tuesday 26 March 2019) at 9am (AEDT).
Voted categories include:
- Best Domestic Airline
- Best Airline International – On Line
- Best Airline International – Off Line
- Best Cruise Operator – Domestic Deployment
- Best Cruise Operator – International Deployment
- Best Car / Campervan Rental Operator
- Best Tourist Office – International
- Best Agency Support Service
- Best Hotel / Resort Group
Finalists in categories that do not appear in the list above are determined through a separate nomination submission process which is assessed by external and independent assessors.
AFTA yesterday congratulated all those nominated and wished everyone the best of luck through the voting or nomination submission assessment and judging processes.
The 2019 NTIA Key Dates are as follows:
- Voting Opens – Tuesday 26 March 2019
- Finalists Announced – Monday 20 May 2019
- Ticket Sales – Tuesday 21 May 2019
- Judging Period – Wednesday 15 June to Friday 21 June 2019 (Judged categories only)
- Gala Dinner – Saturday 20 July 2019, at the International Convention Centre, Sydney.
AFTA carved in ice at last year’s NTIA awards
In 2019 AFTA, in conjunction with the Council of Australian Tour Operators, will launch the inaugural CATO Awards. The Awards will be held as a dedicated segment within the AFTA NTIA and recognises and rewards front line travel consultants across four categories.
FOR AFTA’S FULL LIST OF NTIA NOMINEES, CLICK HERE.
Below is a sample of some of the nominees in various categories.
CATEGORY 8 BEST MOBILE TRAVEL ADVISOR NETWORK
- MTA – Mobile Travel Agents
- Smartflyers Australia
- Travel Counsellors
- Travel Partners
- TravelManagers Australia
CATEGORY 3 BEST TRAVEL AGENCY LEISURE // SINGLE LOCATION
- Bicton Travel
- Cherry Picked Travel
- East Burwood Travel & Cruise
- FBI Travel
- Globe Trotters Cruise and Travel
- Globenet Travel
- Helloworld Lake Haven
- Helloworld Travel Elizabeth
- Helloworld Travel Lane Cove
- Helloworld Travel Lower Templestowe
- Jayes Travel
- Main Beach Travel
- Peregrine Travel Centre WA / Summit Travel
- Travel Focus Group
- My Travel Expert
CATEGORY 11 BEST TRAVEL CONSULTANT // LEISURE
- Amy Winter
- Antoinette Prideaux
- Ashlee Simpson
- Courtney Flint
- Courtney Kynoch
- Hannah Campbell
- Isabella Cilia
- Jackie Capuano
- Jess Mcgilvray
- Kristie Thorpe
- Lena Nielson
- Lexie Miliatis
- Nick Roelofs
- Michelle Adler
- Mike Drew
- Rebecca Knowles
- Sally Berry
- Sophie Krauel
CATEGORY 17 YOUNG AGENT OF THE YEAR
- Abby Thomas
- Annabel Edgecome
- Ariel Rose McKiernan
- Courtney Kynoch
- Felicity Felicity
- Laura MacGillivray-Reeves
- Luke Fenech
- Patrick Hull
- Tamara Couttas
- Victoria Buckley
CATEGORY 41 CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR // ADVENTURE
- Crandon Keddie
- Jos Bauk
- Kelly Pinkerton
- Leanne Flannagan SmithBack
- Rebecca Hausler
CATEGORY 10 BEST BUSINESS EVENTS TRAVEL AGENCY
- American Express Global Business Travel
- Directions Conferences & Incentive Management
- Event Travel Management
- The Events Authority
- TRIBE Travel & Events
CATEGORY 1 BEST TRAVEL AGENCY GROUP // 50 OUTLETS OR MORE
- Flight Centre
- Helloworld Travel
- Travellers Choice
CATEGORY 2 BEST NON BRANDED TRAVEL AGENCY GROUP
- Australian Travel Agents Co-operative (ATAC)
- CT Partners
- HELLOWORLD BUSINESS TRAVEL
- Independent Travel Group
- Magellan Travel
- Travel Associates
CATEGORY 19 BEST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE // ON-LINE
- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific Airways • Delta Airlines
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Qantas Airways
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways • United Airlines
- Virgin Australia
CATEGORY 20 BEST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE // OFF-LINE
- Jet Airways
- Finnair
- Lufthansa German Airlines
- Oman Air
- Swiss International Airlines
FOR AFTA’S FULL LIST OF NTIA NOMINEES, CLICK HERE.
Written by Peter Needham
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