NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
Silver Travel Advisor Awards: Consumer reviews site honours travel companies at the National Portrait Gallery. Harry Kemble reports
This year’s Silver Travel Awards winners
Silver Travel awards 21 of the best in over-50s sector
British Airways and Great Rail Journeys have both scooped gongs for the fourth year running at the Silver Travel Awards.
Classic FM presenter John Suchet
hosted the awards, which recognise travel companies that best cater for the over-50s market, at the National Portrait Gallery on Monday. A total of 21 awards were
handed out across a range of categories after a record 100,000
“Our winners have received ringing endorsements from the UK’s mature travellers”
votes were cast by the public. Great Rail Journeys, which
won best rail holiday company, and British Airways, which was crowned best airline, have taken home awards every year since the event started in 2015. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (best ocean cruise line), HF Holidays (best activity or adventure holiday company), Enable Holidays (best accessible holiday provider) and Avis (best car rental company) all won for the third year running. Silversea went home with
Debbie Marshall: ‘Create loyalty’
the award for best luxury cruise line, while Hurtigruten collected the prize for best specialist or expedition cruise line. Escorted tour operator prizes went to Shearings Holidays for the
10
travelweekly.co.uk 12 July 2018
UK award and Wendy Wu Tours for Europe and long-haul tours. Solos Holidays was named best
operator for the single traveller, beating Just You into the runners-up position.
Debbie Marshall, Silver Travel
Advisor’s managing director, said each of the winners had displayed empathy to older customers and maintained a culture of great service.
She said: “These customers may be older, but they have lost none of their earlier sense of adventure and, in many cases, it’s now that they are discovering just how far it can take them. “Our winners have received
ringing endorsements from the UK’s mature travellers. These awards are a real test of how well travel firms are addressing the opportunities to attract, impress and create loyalty in the over-50s sector.” She described the mature
traveller market as “a honeypot” of people with more time, money and ambition to travel than ever before.
Inghams shares Silver-i award with dementia venture
Inghams and Personal Touch Holidays & Dementia Adventure were named joint winners of the new Silver-i award. The award recognises a
company that has delivered outstandingly for the mature traveller over the last year, in terms of an idea, initiative or innovation.
Eight judges on the panel
awarded the same marks for Inghams’ new e-biking programme in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and a collaboration between charity Dementia Adventure and Personal Touch Holidays, which arranges overseas holidays in Portugal for those living with dementia, their carers and partners. Debbie Marshall said: “Both the Inghams and the joint Dementia Adventure and Personal Touch Holidays entries showed how market insight, imagination and determination can create exciting opportunities for older people with very different needs. “These companies are very worthy winners.”
PICTURES: STEVE DUNLOP
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
