Each year the national network’s Choice Awards program recognises members for their support of preferred suppliers, with winners receiving Gold, Silver or Bronze awards along with an invitation to take part in an exclusive Choice Reward Trip.
This year’s Choice Award recipients – announced during the Travellers Choice conference in Sydney – have a choice of three exceptional journeys:
- a six-night exploration of Slovenia and Croatia led by Bunnik Tours’ CEO Dennis Bunnik, and taking in Adriatic gems such as Zagreb, Novo Mesto, Bled and Ljubljana
- a seven-night voyage from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh on Emerald Cruises’ luxury Star-Ship Emerald Harmony, along the way visiting local villages, ancient temples and some spectacular World Heritage-listed sites
- a luxurious five-night trip to the Northern Territory that includes four nights at one of Australia’s most iconic wilderness lodges, Seven Spirit Bay, courtesy of Journey Beyond and Outback Spirit Tours.
Managing Director Christian Hunter says this year’s Choice Award winners played a pivotal role in helping Travellers Choice attain new financial heights in 2024.
“Travellers Choice exceeded all expectations this year by announcing the largest profit in our company’s history, with the vast majority of those funds flowing back to our members,” says Hunter. “This result would simply not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of our Choice Award winners, many of whom are continuing to operate with reduced staffing levels.
“The Choice Reward Trips are our way of saying ‘thank you’ for contributing so much to our entire group’s ongoing success.”
Hunter says Choice Award winners will not only benefit from taking part in an inspiring and fun educational journey.
“They will also get to spend time with other members of the Travellers Choice family, strengthening the bonds that underpin our group.”
Travellers Choice presented an array of additional accolades at this year’s Conference, including the Leading Agency Award, won by South Australia’s Travel and Cruise Professionals.
The Leading Agency Award honours and rewards a Travellers Choice member who has achieved outstanding success in their business and consistently contributes to the group’s overall performance.
Travellers Choice also celebrated loyalty with its annual Service Awards, presented after 10 years of continuous membership and then every five years thereafter.
This year saw Perth’s Capricorn Travel presented with a Service Award to celebrate a remarkable 40 years with Travellers Choice, while Adelaide’s Hastwell Travel & Cruise marked 30 years. A further 27 members received Service Awards celebrating between 10- and 25-years’ membership with the award-winning network.
“Collectively, this years’ Service Award winners represent 450 years of loyal membership – that’s a remarkable testament to just how much our members value being part of Australia’s leading network for independent travel agents,” says Hunter.
Leading Agency Award
The Travellers Choice Leading Agency Award distinguishes a member who has enjoyed outstanding success in their individual agency business, has contributed significantly to the group’s overall performance, and is highly engaged with the broad spectrum of support services that Travellers Choice offers members.
The winner receives a Travellers Choice Service Grant.
2024 Leading Agency Award winner: Travel and Cruise Professionals (South Australia)
Supplier of the Year Award
Travellers Choice members nominate their top three preferred suppliers to receive the Supplier of the Year Award in recognition of support provided throughout the year. Members consider partners according to on-road sales representation, reservations servicing, reservations processing, local area sales development support, product range and point of sale material. All members are invited to nominate and all Travellers Choice preferred suppliers are eligible for nomination.
2024 Supplier of the Year Award winner: APT & Travelmarvel
(Note that APT & Travelmarvel won back-to-back Supplier of the Year awards pre-COVID in 2018 and 2019).
Service Awards
Service Awards celebrate agency membership tenure of the group and Travellers Choice staff employment longevity. They are first presented after 10 years of service and then every five years thereafter.
This year will see Perth’s Capricorn Travel presented with a Service Award to celebrate a remarkable 40 years with Travellers Choice, while Adelaide’s Hastwell Travel & Cruise marks 30 years.
A further 27 members will receive Service Awards celebrating between 10- and 25-years’ membership with the network. A full list of Service Award recipients is available if required.
Supplier’s Choice Awards (presented during Saturday plenary)
The winners of the Supplier’s Choice Awards are nominated by Travellers Choice’s preferred partners who consider the winning agent’s support in any of sales volume, year on year percentage sales growth, local area sales development initiatives, product knowledge, staff/agency professionalism and participation at functions.
Jamison Travel will this year took home the biggest batch of these awards (five), followed by Home and Afar Travel (four). Endeavour Travel & Cruise, Panorama Cruise & Travel and Ucango Travel & Cruise Centre each took home three. Let me know if you would like a full list or to speak to any of the recipients.
2024 GOLD CHOICE AWARD WINNERS
- Endeavour Travel & Cruise
- Everywhere Travel
- Home and Afar Travel
- Jamison Travel
- Oliver Travel
- Panorama Cruise & Travel
- Select World Travel
- Top Deck Travel
- Travel Makers
- Windsong Travel
