Voting opens for British Travel Awards

Voting is now open for this year-¬™s British Travel Awards, taking place on November 5 at Battersea Evolution in London.

Consumer and trade voting will close on September 30.

Training For Travel will be visiting 1,000 agencies across the country to gather votes in the 10 categories which are purely trade voted, including Best Travel Recruitment Company, Best Trade Support Website and Supplier Sales Team of the Year.

Around 9 million consumers are being targeted to vote with a series of scheduled promotions, adverts and editorial features planned for the coming months.

For the second successive year, UK consumers will also be asked to complete an attitudinal survey -" this year supported by The Institute of Travel & Tourism.

The awards, in conjunction with Lloyds TSB Cardnet, will honour winners in 73 categories.

There are 57 categories which rely purely on consumer voting and six categories which require the completion of criteria forms to support the consumer votes achieved.

This year the integrity of the final results of this year-¬™s awards will be further assured thanks to the involvement of Delloitte LLP, who will provide an independent audit of votes in all categories and oversee the deliberations of an Academy of category judging panels when they assess the submissions entered for the Tour Operator and Retailer of the Year categories.

The British Travel Awards are also supported by leading industry names including Thomson and First Choice, The ITT, Advantage Travel Centres, TravelMole, P&O Ferries, GTA by Travelport, Avis, Hurtigruten, AITO, ResortHoppa, New Frontiers, Thomas Cook, Travel Trust Association and World Travel Market.

Charity Just A Drop will be supported via a silent auction at the event this year, and for the first time, The British Heart Foundation and The Travel Foundation will also benefit from charitable donations on the night.

For more information, to vote online or to reserve your tables at the awards ceremony, visit www.britishtravelawards.com

By Bev Fearis