news wtmpride of agents awards Travel’s unsung heroes
The first ever WTM Pride of Agents Awards recognised travel agents’ commitment to their customers and communities. By Daniel Pearce
EVERY YEAR destinations come to World Travel Market in London from across the globe to present their updates and sales opportunities to the thousands who attend. But this year WTM was also the magnet for some of the most impressive travel agents in the country – the pride of the industry, in fact – as the first WTM Pride of Agents Awards drew to a close.
Launched in association with TTGand Travel Channel, and sponsored by Virgin Holidays, the awards got underway five months ago with the aim of uncovering some of the unsung heroes from travel agencies up and down the country. And uncover they did, with hundreds of agents
The judges for the awards included WTM chair Fiona Jeffery; Virgin Holidays sales and distribution director Chris Roe; UKinbound chief executive Mary Rance;
Responsibletravel.com managing director Justin Francis, and TTGeditor Daniel Pearce.
from across the UK nominated for the initiative. From Gloucester to Glasgow, there was no
shortage of interest as agents recognised and responded to an initiative aimed at rewarding the extra work they do, and underlining their wider contribution to their communities. But as the stories of service and passion,
charity and community came forward, there could only be one set of winners. And on November 11 at WTM, following an exhaustive judging process involving some of the most senior industry figures, the winners were announced.
THE BIG WINNER Travel agent Mark Maunder of The Co-operative Travel in Llanelli, south Wales, was named the overall winner, collecting the prize from last year’s X Factor finalist Jamie “Afro” Archer. He was rewarded with a seven-night holiday to the Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Abu Dhabi courtesy of Virgin Holidays, but that wasn’t the only thing he picked up on the day – he also scooped the award for the Multiple Retail category.
Watch the videos WTM Pride of Agents Official Broadcast Partner
Co-op regional manager Lesley Davies nominated Mark for leading a team of five that fully backs-up his and the Co-op’s values. “Promotional events, fundraising events,
involvement in local football clubs and business development are all a part of the team’s daily work, and they take on each task with total enthusiasm and commitment,” says Lesley. “Mark supports, guides and drives his staff and is a well-respected manager. In a community like Llanelli you can never underestimate the power of excellent customer service and community involvement.”
ttglive.com
The tales behind the winners were played out at the WTM awards ceremony, thanks to Travel Channel, which ran films about each of the finalists at the event. Travel Channel producers whizzed around the UK in the week before WTM to get video footage of each of the finalists. Watch the short films in full at:
ttglive.com/prideofagents And for more on the Travel Channel, visit:
travelchannel.co.uk
2009 X Factorfinalist Jamie “Afro” Archer 32 19.11.2010 Travel agents from across the UK came together for the presentation of the awards at WT
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