‘Big boys’ excel at British Travel Awards
Thomson, Saga Holidays and Virgin Holidays were the big winners at this year’s British Travel Awards.
The awards, presented at a Halloween-themed bash in London last night, saw a record number of nearly 1.2 million votes, opinions and intentions registered.
Industry ‘big boys’ Thomson and Saga won nine awards each and Virgin Hoildays won in six categories.
Thomson won Best Family Holiday Company, Best Adults Only Holiday Company, Best Holiday Company for Customer Service and Best National Travel Retailer and also took awards for its North African, Iberian Peninsula & Islands, Italian Peninsula and Hellenic Europe programmes.
Saga Holidays collected the Best Special Interest and Singles Awards and also outshone the competition for its Southern Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Western, East & Southeast Europe and Central & South American products.
A number of companies won a special trophy for winning a BTA for the fifth consecutive year.
The Five Year Awards went to Avis for Best Car Hire Company; P&O Ferries for Best Ferry Company; Viking River Cruises for Best River Cruise Line; Voyage of Discovery for Best Niche Cruise Line; Cornwall for Best UK County or Region and The Post Office for both Best Foreign Exchange / Travel Money and Best Travel Insurance Provider.
"This year The British Travel Awards has topped all records for consumer voted awards with the highest number of votes and opinions cast across the various travel categories," said BTAs chief executive Lorraine Barnes Burton.
"We have seen more independent and SME companies applying for registration to the competition than ever before and the travelling UK public has shown that they are more discerning than ever by voting for the companies who have offered best product, best value and best service – regardless of size.
"As well as the big names in the UK travel industry deservedly winning the awards in which they clearly excel, there have been a few surprises this year and the results have highlighted some really close counts in many of the categories. "
To give smaller operators a chance to win, this year’s awards were categorised by destination and also by the size of the company.
Among the medium-sized operators, Emirates Holidays and Titan Travel each picked up four awards and Eurocamp collected three.
Of the small tour operators, winners included well known names such as Wendy Wu Tours and Brittany Ferries Holidays but also not so well known, such as newcomer Cyprus Paradise and Friendship Travel Singles Holidays, which collected two awards.
Bales Worldwide, however, did the best collecting four awards.
In the cruise sector, P&O Cruises won three awards, including Best Family Cruise line and Best UK Departure Cruise Line.
The prestigious Best Luxury Cruise Line Award went to Cunard.
Click here for a full list of results.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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