Displaying items by tag:NTIA

The finalists have been announced and preparation is well advanced for one of the New Zealan d travel industry’s biggest events of the year – the National Travel Industry Awards (NTIAs).

It was all flash frocks and smarts suits when the travel industry celebrates the best of the best at the National Travel Industry Awards.

• TAANZ president Brent Thomas with Hall of Fame recipient Andrew Bowman
• Jo Rendall, Infinity, Lizzie Brett, Helloworld Travel
• Alice Ager, Alka Thapar, both Uniworld; Megan Singleton, Blogger at Large; Alison Hopkirk, Delta Air Lines
• Lisa Broderick, Flight Centre Brands; Jodie Burnard, Lauren Bainbridge, Flight Centre Travel Group; Kelly Thomas FCM
• Caryn Young, Adventure World; Marija Tolj, Louise Levesque, The Travel Corporation
• Tania Chatsinchai, Andreass Irawan, Wanderlust Travel; Andrew Prins, 360edge Travel; Catherine Cuffie, Envoyage; Margy Twigden, Wanderlust
• Chris Schoffer, Lufthansa Group with xtravel’s Tori Keating and Niki Davies
• James Douglas, Singapore Airlines; Belinda Fifield, House of Travel, Christchurch City
• Kevin Blyth, Allianz Partners; Abigail Gorman, Orbit World Travel Christchurch
• Andrew Bowman, NZ Travel Brokers; Andrew Gay, Travel USA; Fiona Farrell, Flight Centre
• Michelle Malcolm, Michelle Sutton and Cindy Palmer, Quay Travel; Stu Jones, Air New Zealand
• Viking’s Shaun Kavanagh, Michelle Black, Keira Smith and Steve Parker. Viking was named Best Cruise Line of the Year.

Attendees at the National travel Industry Awards on Saturday night were reminded that they are people who will inspire the next generation to join the travel industry.

The Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ) has released the list of finalists for the National Travel Industry Awards, which will be presented during a celebration in Auckland on 3 May.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia has been named Most Outstanding Travel Industry Training Institution at Australia’s National Travel Industry Awards (NTIAs).

The National Travel Industry Awards look set to become re-established as an annual occasion following the success of this year’s event.

‘Glad to see you still standing.’ Those were some of the welcoming words by Travel Agents’ Association president Brent Thomas at the TAANZ NTIA Awards at Cordis Auckland on Saturday night. The comment came after he asked everyone who was in the audience and had been at the previous awards in 2019 to stand up – and most of the 700 plus attendees got to their feet.

There was also a healthy number of first timers at the celebration – a fact that earned a big cheer.

Thomas referred briefly to the tough times during the pandemic but also noted that the challenge had galvanised the industry like never before. ‘With Flight Centre joining the fold, TAANZ now represents 95% of the travel agencies in New Zealand. We’re a thriving industry having our best years ever.’

Thomas emphasised the importance of everyone in the tourism and travel ecosystem working together and also noted the progress the industry was having in gaining the ear of government ministers. ‘It’s great to see travel agents and suppliers coming together tonight.’

Thomas also announced the retirement of long standing publisher Tony Dominey, of TABS on Travel / Travel Today and noted that TAANZ would be presenting him with a gift in the near future.

Winners at the TAANZ National Travel Industry Awards, presented at Cordis Hotel on Saturday 25 May: 
Intrepid Top Leisure Agency: Discover Travel Christchurch, House of Travel; Delta Airlines Top Corporate Agency: Orbit World Travel Auckland; Cover-More Top Leisure Agency: Elliot Travel Gisborne, World Travellers; Wendy Wu Tours Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit Award: Buzz Thompson; Norwegian Cruise Lines Top Leisure Agency: Cruise Connections; Sabre Top Corporate Agency: Corporate Traveller, Flight Centre; Oceania Cruises Top Leisure Agency: Wright and Turner Travel Associates Flight Centre; Silversea Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit: YOU Travel Bethlehem; Regent Seven Seas Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit: xtravel, Queenstown, TMG
G Adventures Top Leisure Individual: Helen Moffit, House of Travel St Heliers; Expedia TAAP Top Leisure Agency: NZ Travel Brokers; Globus family of brands Top Leisure Individual: Belinda Wilson, Pukekohe Travel; World Leading Cruise Lines Top Leisure Agency: Pukekohe Travel; Allianz Top Leisure Individual: Sarah McWilliams, Pukekohe Travel; The Travel Corporation’s Top Leisure Agency: House of Travel, Northlink; Infinity Travel’s Top Leisure Individual: Melissa Landrebe, YOU Travel Ferrymead; Viking Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit: Ros Chapman, YOU Travel Feilding; Favourite Air Supplier: Singapore Airlines; Best Account Manager: Megan Hornblow, Globus family of brands
Favourite Land Supplier: Globus family of brands; Qantas Top Leisure Agency: The Travel Brokers; Qantas Top Corporate Agency: Orbit World Travellers Auckland; Air New Zealand Top Leisure Agency: Sounds Travel; Air New Zealand Top Corporate Agency: Orbit World Travel Auckland; Air New Zealand Lifetime Industry Achievement: Guy Flynn, NZ Travel Brokers; Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award: Jim Murphy, Pukekohe Travel

• Winner of Regent Seven Seas’ Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit award – xTravel’s Tori Keating and Niki Davies with Regent’s Tracey Brennan (centre)
• David Coombes, House of Travel; Tony Laskey, Service IQ; Hemal Jani, Brijesh Sethi, both Beyond Holidays
• Guy Flynn, NZ Travel Brokers, winner of Air New Zealand’s Lifetime Industry Achievement Award –with Tim Swan, Air New Zealand
• Hayley Purdon, Expedia Group; Chris Jones, Amanda Debenham. Stu Udy, all Expedia TAAP
• Rachel Williams, Viva Expeditions; Joanne Saunderson, NZTB; Cindy Bakewell, The Private Travel Company; Pip Fear, NZTB
• Jayne Alldred, House of Travel accepts The Travel Corporation’s Top Leisure Agency award on behalf of House of Travel, Northlink; Louise Levesque, The Travel Corporation
• Delta Air Lines Top Corporate Agency winner, Brendan Drury, Orbit World Travel Auckland with DL’s Alison Hopkirk and Stephen Tanner
• Mandy Veale, Tourism and Events Queensland; Megan Singleton, Blogger at Large; Paul Dymond, Wendy Wu; Hayley Fraser, House of Travel
• Guests of TRAVELinc Memo... Megan Singleton, Blogger at Large and selfie taker extraordinaire; Anita Gatley, TMG; Anna Rowbotham, Inez Teni, both Fuzion Travel; Claire Jones, House of Travel Devonport; me, TRAVELinc; Jo Saunderson, New Zealand Travel Brokers; Wendy Birmingham, Fuzion Travel
• TAANZ board members Victoria Courtney, Flight Centre NZ; John Willson, First Travel Group
• Brent Thomas, TAANZ president, with TAANZ Hall of Fame winner Jim Murphy Pukekohe Travel ans Eve Murphy, Pukekohe Travel
• Chris Jones, Expedia with Guy Flynn NZ Travel Brokers, winner of Expedia’s Top Leisure Agency
• Jessica Kilbride Parris, Rebecca Slee, Emily Rose, all Qantas
• Steve Parker, Viking with Ros Chapman, YOU Travel Feilding who won Viking’s Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit award
• Belinda Wilson, Pukekohe Travel who won Globus family of brands’ Top Leisure Individual, with Angela Webber, Globus
• Mel Watson, Silversea Cruises and Kay Rogers, YOU Travel Bethlehem, winner of Silversea’s Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit award
• Flighties catch up early at the awards evening... Julia Hindman, Mariana Stoyanova, Rowena McCarron
• Wendy Wu Tours’ Paul Dymond and Lisa Anthony with House of Travel Hobsonville’s Buzz Thompson who won the Wendy Wu Tours Resilience and Entrepreneurial Spirit award
• Best Account Manager, Megan Hornblow, Globus with Jackie Bell, The Travel Brokers
• G Adventures’ Top Leisure Individual, Helen Moffit, House of Travel St Heliers (centre) with G Adventures’ Sean Martin and Kim du Plessis

Asking for help, upskilling and networking are essential ingredients for travel brokers, says one of the finalists in the Best Broker category of the TAANZ National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA).

Some new faces are likely to emerge as industry forces when finalists of the National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA) are revealed on Monday, 12 June.
Voting closed last Friday and Travel Agents Association of New Zealand chief executive Andrew Olsen says that while he needed to be scant on detail it looked likely the awards would ‘bring up new names we haven’t seen.
‘It will probably surprise some people in the supply side in terms of emerging brands.
‘What we can say is that NTIA is here to stay and we are pleased with the way some of the agents and suppliers really got into their campaign.’