And the best British travel company is....

Thomson scooped an impressive 18 awards at last night's British Travel Awards, while Thomas Cook won 15.

The titles of Large Tour Operator of the Year, Best Travel Agency for Customer Service, Best All Inclusive Tour Operator and Best Ski and Winter Sports Tour Operator all went to Thomson.

Thomas Cook won the Best Tour Operator for its programmes to Europe & The Canary Islands, Southern Asia, East and Central Asia and its tours division won Best Escorted Tour Operator.

Thomas Cook Sport won the inaugural 'Best Spectator Sports Tours Operator' award, created this year in recognition of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Virgin also collected a total of fifteen awards across its airline, holiday and cruise divisions including Best Economy Class Airline, and Best Airline Customer Service.

A company with its headquarters in Brazil won the Small Tour Operator of the Year, with the proud owners of Dehouche flying in from Rio to collect their award.

Airline of the Year Award went to Emirates and the UAE based airline also collected Best Business / First Class Airline. Avis, long time favourite of BTA voters, clawed back Car Hire Company of the Year, after a one-year lapse when Hertz took the crown.

Cunard won Cruise Line of the Year and co-operativetravel.co.uk winning Travel Agency of the Year was one of a hat trick of awards for The Co-op.

P&O Cruises picked up four awards including Best Mainstream Cruise Line, Best Luxury Cruise Line and Best Family Cruise Line.

Australia is the Best Country according to BTA voters, with Florida the Best USA Holiday State and New York the Best City Break Destination. Back home the British public still love Cornwall and it was again voted Best UK Holiday County or Region, with St. Ives winning Best UK Seaside Town.

Since the British Travel Awards inception six years ago, the Post Office has taken the Best Foreign Exchange / Travel Money Retailer and Best Travel Insurance Provider and this year was no exception.

For the second year running Premier Inn picked up a trio of awards with Best Leisure Hotel Chain, Best Business Hotel Chain and Hotel Chain of the Year.

By Linsey McNeill

Thursday, November 3, 2011

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