Irish Travel Trade News January 2015

www.ittn.ie

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Irish Travel Trade News completed the celebrations for its 50th anniversary in 2014 with a spectacular Irish Travel Trade Awards night at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin, complete with drummers, fire acrobats, ladies in Viennese masquerade ball costumes, Brazilian samba dancers and capoeira dancers, the Havanah Club Trio jazz band, a DJ – and over 300 guests from the Irish travel industry and suppliers. In this publication, we highlight all the award winners – including those of the inaugural ITTN Industry Achievement Award, the inaugural ITTN Travel Agency of the Year Awards, and the 2014 ITTN Budding Travel Writer of the Year Award. In addition, we feature what India has to offer Irish visitors, interview Ian Scott on Dubai Tourism’s plans for promoting to the Irish travel trade in 2015, and welcome Sarah Slattery, The Travel Expert, who joined our editorial team on 1st January.

Your ITTN Team

23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards Celebrate

ITTN’s 50th Anniversary

ONLINEPRINTE-BULLETINSDEDICATED E-NEWSAWARDS

CONNECTING THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY FOR OVER 50 YEARS


ONLINE | PRINT | E-BULLETINS | DEDICATED E-NEWS | AWARDS



ONLINEPRINTE-BULLETINSDEDICATED E-NEWSAWARDS






T: +353 1 216 4222F: +353 1 296 7514E: [email protected]: www.ittn.ie

© JANUARY 2015

IRISH TRAVEL TRADE NEWS1st Floor, C4 Nutgrove Office Park, Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, Ireland

F: www.facebook.com/IrishTravelTradeNewsT: @ittn_ieY: www.YouTube.com/IrishTravelTradeNewsL: www.linkedin.com/company/irish-travel-trade-newsP: www.Pinterest.com/ittnews/irish-travel-trade-news

Your ITTN team: Neil Steedman, News & Features Editor; Ronan Flood, Managing Editor; Michael Flood, Editor; Ian Bloomfield and Hilary Drumm, Advertising & Marketing

The tables are set

The guests start the party!

** Watch the Video ** HTTP://YOUTU.BE/WZUGHRT0QWA

The stage is set

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Irish Travel Trade News in 2015

TRAVEL EXPERT SARAH JOINS THE ITTN TEAM

Irish Travel Trade News is pleased to announce that Sarah Slattery has joined the ITTN editorial team from 1st January 2015. After 23 years with Skytours Travel, where she was a Director and General Manager, Sarah resigned from the company in November and is now developing her informative travel blog, www.thetravelexpert.ie, which

offers helpful hints, advice on destinations and how to get there, as well as the latest and best travel deals. In addition, Sarah has been appointed Travel Journalist with ITTN and will be undertaking a number of assignments with Irish Travel Trade News and assisting with social media content. Sarah was a monthly winner and finalist in ITTN’s inaugural Budding Travel Writer of the Year competition in 2013.

DESTINATIONS 2015 – A SPECIAL PUBLICATION

Irish Travel Trade News will be publishing a special issue, ‘Destinations 2015’, to be distributed at the end of March. The publication will feature destinations that Irish people visited

in 2014 and where they will go in 2015 – including the most popular, the unusual and also the less frequently visited – and will include destination reviews written by Irish travel agents. ‘Destinations 2015’ will feature not only countries, regions, resorts and cities, but also cruise ships and tour operator programmes. Copy date for the publication is Friday 13th March 2015. For details of advertising and editorial support opportunities, contact Ian Bloomfield at [email protected] or Hilary Drumm at [email protected]

ITTN HAS MOVED TO NEW PREMISES

Irish Travel Trade News commenced the New Year in new premises in Nutgrove Office Park, Dublin – so please note the following contact details.

Our new address is:

IRISH TRAVEL TRADE NEWS1st Floor, C4 Nutgrove Office Park, Nutgrove AvenueRathfarnham, Dublin 14, Ireland T: +353 1 216 4222 | F: +353 1 296 7514E: [email protected] | W: www.ittn.ie

PLANNING AN EVENT? CONTACT THE TEAM @ ITTN

Yes, the team at Irish Travel Trade News would like to hear from you! Please send us your travel news, media releases and images (low-res for online, high-res for print), events, invitations, forthcoming fam trips, and any questions or suggestions you may have to:[email protected]

Sarah Slattery, The Travel Expert, joins the ITTN editorial team and will assist with social media content

Destination Dubai: Bastakiya

Destination Cruising: Quantum of the Seas

Destination Spain: Lovers Mountain, Antequera

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Interview

IAN SCOTT, DIRECTOR UK & IRELAND, DUBAI TOURISM

visitors in August –3,301 compared to 2,775 in August 2013 – highlighting the success of our campaign and the growing appeal of Dubai as a family summer holiday destination. With more than 10,000 eateries, the city’s growing profile as a gastronomy destination will be celebrated this year with the return of the Dubai Food Festival, which takes place from 6th – 28th February. The festival is a 22-day programme of events, activities and mall and restaurant activations created to highlight the diverse food offering of the emirate, from 5-star gourmet to quality street food; international brands to a burgeoning scene of home-grown concepts influenced by Arabic flavours and the menus of 200 nationalities who live in Dubai. To promote the festival, Dubai Tourism joined forces with UK-based food artist Paul Baker to create a Dubai Foodscape, which was on display at World Travel Market in London and will be on display during the Festival.

HAS DUBAI TOURISM NOW OVERCOME THE ‘MYTHS’ ABOUT DUBAI AMONG IRISH TRAVEL AGENTS?The stories that have found their way into national press over the years have certainly created negative perceptions, but because of the nature of the reporting, we know that these perceptions are based on myths not reality, and we have worked hard to tackle those myths. We conducted research to inform us what stories people have read, which they believed, and, most important of all, which had a negative impact on their likelihood to book a holiday. We have overcome negative perceptions based on myths among the Irish travel agents very simply by focusing on the reality of what Dubai does have to offer, and why 11 million people visited in 2013, many of them not for the first time. From a trade perspective, all of these myths are being dealt with all of the time through all our agent-training initiatives.

WHAT IS DUBAI TOURISM PLANNING AS REGARDS SUPPORT FOR / PROMOTION TO IRISH TRAVEL AGENTS AND TOUR OPERATORS?We will continue to work with our traditional, specialist and niche tour operator partners to run

WHAT IS DUBAI TOURISM’S TARGET FOR IRISH VISITORS IN 2015? We are now almost 20 months into the delivery of Dubai’s ‘Tourism Vision for 2020’ and significant first steps have been taken to achieve the target of attracting 20 million annual visitors to the city by 2020. The Irish market, as with the UK, requires double-digit growth in 2015 and the ensuing years to remain on target and we are certainly set to hit that figure. In order to make our Tourism Vision for 2020 a reality, we are not only continuing to profile

Dubai and its many fantastic developments across the Irish market to drive bookings, but we are also working hard to expand and enhance our tourism offering in order to attract new and repeat visitors. 2015 will bring an increase in accommodation out side of the 5-star bracket; the fruition of a number of innovative and exciting attractions that have been in development over the last few years, from theme parks to the new cultural quarter; new and improved infrastructure, including a tram network; and a number of new events spanning gastronomy, music, sport, art and culture.

WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN MARKETING THEMES FOR 2015 TO ACHIEVE THAT TARGET?We will focus on our eight key communications pillars for 2015 and all activity will focus on promoting these core themes. Our eight themes comprise: Gastronomy, Beach and Marine, Outdoor Adventure, Culture and History, Spa and Hotel, Shopping, Family, and Events.

HOW WILL YOU BE PROMOTING DUBAI AS A FAMILY HOLIDAY AND GASTRONOMIC DESTINATION?Dubai’s family product offering is constantly expanding, with new hotels and attractions having opened in 2014 and set to open in 2015. As well as promoting these through agent training and marketing activities, we will also be running our annual ‘Summer Is Dubai’ tactical campaign run in conjunction with a series of our tour operator partners to drive greater awareness of what the emirate has to offer the Irish family market over the summer months and to push conversion.Last year we saw a 19% year-on-year increase in Irish

“WE HAVE OVERCOME NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS BASED ON MYTHS AMONG THE IRISH TRAVEL AGENTS VERY SIMPLY BY FOCUSING ON THE REALITY OF WHAT DUBAI DOES HAVE TO OFFER, AND WHY 11 MILLION PEOPLE VISITED IN 2013, MANY OF THEM NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME.”

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Interview

Dubai Frame, opening 2015: This structure will be an iconic centrepiece within Dubai’s Zabeel Park. Raising 150 metres from the ground and being 93 metres wide, the hollow shape will resemble a huge picture frame and will have an elevator up to the top of the frame at 150 metres where visitors will walk along a glass-floor bridge from which they can enjoy impressive city views. Dubai Design District, opening 2015: This is a purpose-built community dedicated to promoting and nurturing emerging local talent, while also providing a creative home to established international design, luxury and fashion brands (www.dubaidesigndistrict.com). IMG Worlds of Adventure, opening 2015/16: This 140,000 square metre project will be the world’s largest temperature-controlled indoor themed entertainment destination with a capacity to welcome in excess of 20,000 visitors a day. It will be the first leisure destination in the world to bring together global brands, Cartoon Network and Marvel, in one location, in addition to Lost Valley – Dinosaur Adventure, an original concept by the developers Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari (IMG) Group (www.imgwoa.ae). Nine new hotels opened in 2013/2014, including Four Seasons’ debut property in the emirate at the end of last year, and a further six hotels are due to open in 2015: InterContinental Dubai Marina (opening Q1), Palazzo Versace Dubai (Q1), R Hotels (Q2), St Regis Dubai (Q2), W Hotel (Q3) and the The Westin Dubai (Q4).

WHAT SPECIAL ONE-OFF EVENTS ARE LIKELY TO ATTRACT IRISH VISITORS IN 2015?As well as our ever-popular annual festivals that take place in the first quarter of the year, including the Dubai Shopping Festival (already underway), the Dubai Food Festival and Emirates Jazz Festival in February and the Emirates Festival of Literature in March, we also have the world’s most famous boy band, One Direction, visiting the Sevens Stadium Dubai in April. Dubai is fast-becoming the go-to destination for first-class entertainment, with the world’s biggest artists choosing the city as the region’s stop on their world tours and more and more tourists are visiting the emirate on account of its unmatched entertainment offering.

HOW ARE STOPOVERS DOING AMONG IRISH ONWARD TRAVELLERS?We do not have detailed stats on stopovers, but there is huge potential in this market.

joint promotions and integrated campaigns that incorporate trade and consumer activity. We will engage in a strategy that integrates extensive face-to-face training at a variety of events including trade partner roadshows, inhouse travel agent and tour operator visits, call centre training sessions, and joint tour operator sales calls, as well as online training; event hosting and sponsorship; familiarisation trips; trade-specific social media channels and regular product newsletter updates. We operate a destination training strategy that not only educates agents but also excites, entertains and engages them to maintain their interest in the emirate and keeps Dubai front of mind when they sell. The many different mediums help the travel trade to fully understand the destination and thus sell holidays to Dubai with expert knowledge and confidence, pairing individual customers to the most fitting Dubai experience for them.

WHAT IS THE ‘SPLIT’ IN IRISH VISITS TO DUBAI BETWEEN CLIENT SELF-BOOKINGS, TOUR OPERATOR PACKAGES, AND TRAVEL AGENT DYNAMIC PACKAGES?We do not have statistics that showcase this split, however we are committed to supporting all the ways in which consumers can book holidays to Dubai.

DID THE ‘SPLIT’ IN IRISH VISITS IN TERMS OF LUXURY AND ECONOMY ACCOMMODATIONS BOOKED CHANGE IN 2014?We have seen increased numbers of Irish visitors across all types of accommodation, but no discernible change in the split.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ATTRACTIONS AND HOTELS SCHEDULED TO OPEN IN 2015?We have a vast array of attractions and hotels opening up in 2015. Upcoming attractions include:Dubai Safari Project, opening Q1 2015: The park, in an area of almost 400 hectares, will comprise a safari village, Arabian village, Asian village, African village, children’s zoo, butterfly park and botanical garden, in addition to educational and veterinary facilities. About 1,000 animals from across the world will be housed in temperature-controlled environments. Deira Fish Market, opening 2015: Dubai’s new 11,000 square metre, Dhs250 million (€60m) fish market at Al Hamriya will incorporate hundreds of fish and fruit and vegetable stalls, spice shops and restaurants and is set to replace the old fish market that has stood in Deira since 1988.

“DUBAI IS FAST-BECOMING THE GO-

TO DESTINATION FOR FIRST-CLASS

ENTERTAINMENT, WITH THE WORLD’S

BIGGEST ARTISTS CHOOSING

THE CITY AS THE REGION’S

STOP ON THEIR WORLD TOURS

AND MORE AND MORE TOURISTS

ARE VISITING THE EMIRATE ON

ACCOUNT OF ITS UNMATCHED ENTERTAINMENT

OFFERING.”

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International Buddhist Conclave

BIHAR PROMOTES INDIA’S BUDDHIST CIRCUITThe India Tourist Office invited ITTN’s News & Features Editor, Neil Steedman (a Buddhist), to attend the recent International Buddhist Conclave in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, which had the theme “How to improve visitors’ experience in the Buddhist circuit”.

words being: “All things must pass. Work out your own salvation with diligence.” Bihar gets its name from ‘vihara’, or ‘monastery’, and includes many Buddhist sites and impressive Buddhist ruins, including Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Nalanda, Rajgir, East Champaran, West Champaran, and Jehanabad (see www.buddhistcircuitbihar.com). The most impressive speaker at the Conclave was Shantum Seth, an ordained teacher (Dharmacharya) who has been leading pilgrimages themed ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha’ and other multi-faith and transformative journeys since 1988 organised by his tour operating company Buddhapath (www.buddhapath.com). Shantum will be leading an Irish group tour ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha’ during 2016 that is being organised in conjunction with ITTN’s Neil Steedman, who Irish travel agents with Buddhist clients, and others interested in mindfulness and meditation, can contact at [email protected].

The Government of India is investing Rs5 billion (€70m) to develop five theme-based tourist circuits, including the Buddhist circuits in India and especially in the state of Bihar, which promotes itself as “An enlightening experience in the land of Buddhism”. The international Conclave hosted scholars, tour operators and travel journalists with an interest in Buddhism and invited them to explore the potential of the Buddhist circuits and how they could open a gateway to rural tourism in the area. There are some 10,000 Buddhists in Ireland, North and South, for whom India – particularly Bihar – is the primary pilgrimage destination. The four main holy places associated with Buddha Shakyamuni are Lumbini, his birthplace circa 563 BC in Northern India (now in Nepal); Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where he obtained enlightenment; Sarnath near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where he preached his first sermon, The Four Noble Truths; and Kushinagar near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, where, at age 80, he passed into ‘final’ nirvana, his last

THERE ARE SOME 10,000 BUDDHISTS IN IRELAND, NORTH AND SOUTH, FOR WHOM INDIA – PARTICULARLY BIHAR – IS THE PRIMARY PILGRIMAGE DESTINATION.

Neil Steedman

Young Tibetan Buddhist monks chanting welcomed conference delegates at Gaya Airport

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International Buddhist Conclave

BODH GAYA

PRAGBODHI CAVES

Bodhi Tree of Enlightenment

Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist Monastery

The ruins of Nalanda, a world-renowned university between the 5th and 12th centuries AD with up to 8,500 students and 1,500 teachers from India, Sri Lanka, South-East Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, China and Korea, spread over 14 hectares

Shrine in the temple at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, and Dharmacharya Shantum Seth at the nearby Stupa, where Buddha Shakyamuni preached his first sermon, The Four Noble Truths

Buddha Rupa at Pragbodhi Caves, where Siddartha Gautama practiced as an ascetic during the six years prior to his obtaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya

ITTN’s Neil Steedman at Pragbodhi Caves

Buddha Rupa in Mahabodhi Temple

Detail of the Mahabodhi Temple

Great Buddha statue, 24 metres high, built by monks of the Diajokyo sect of Japanese Buddhism

NALANDA

SARNATH

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Irish Travel Trade Awards 2014 23 Award Categories – 17 Winning Companies

All the winners of Irish Travel Trade Awards 2014 celebrate along with John Spollen, Cassidy Travel, joint winner of the inaugural ITTN Industry Achievement Award; Declan O’Connell, Lee Travel, winner of

the inaugural ITTN Travel Agent of the Year Award; Deirdre Sweeny, Sunway, winner of the 2014 ITTN Budding Travel Writer of the Year Award, and the Irish Travel Trade News team.

Your trusted voice in travel 1964 - 2014

In the 23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards 17 supplier companies were presented with 23 trophies when the winners were announced at the Irish Travel Industry Christmas Party, held on Friday 28th November 2014 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin – Burlington Road, which will also be the venue for this year’s ‘Oscars’ on Friday 27th November 2015.

Over 300 Irish travel industry representatives were greeted at the door by drummers, fire acrobats and ladies in Viennese masquer-ade ball costumes, and once in the ballroom were entertained by Brazilian samba dancers and capoeira dancers, the Havanah Club Trio jazz band, and a DJ. To see all the action, visit http://youtu.be/Ki15mEEOCvg

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All The Winners23rd

2014THE

IRISH TRADE

AWARDS

TRAVELYour tru

sted voice in travel 1964 - 2014

AIRLINES

Best Airline to EuropeAER LINGUS

Best Airline to North AmericaAER LINGUS

Best Long Haul AirlineETIHAD AIRWAYS

Best Business Class AirlineETIHAD AIRWAYS

SEA TRANSPORT

Best Ferry CompanyIRISH FERRIES

Best Cruise Company (3/4 Star)ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL

Best Cruise Company (5/6 Star)CELEBRITY CRUISES

Best River Cruise CompanyUNIWORLD BOUTIQUE RIVER CRUISES

TRAVEL AGENCY SERVICES

Best National Tourist OfficeSPAIN

Best Accommodation ProviderBOOKABED

Best Travel Technology ProviderTRAVELPORT

DESTINATIONS

Best Europe DestinationSPAIN

Best Americas DestinationFLORIDA

Best Middle East / Africa DestinationDUBAI

Best Asia / Pacific DestinationTHAILAND

Best Worldwide Sun DestinationMEXICO

LAND TRANSPORT

Best Car Rental CompanyHERTZ

Best Rail CompanyVOYAGES-SNCF

TOUR OPERATORS

Best Sun Holiday Tour OperatorSUNWAY

Best Ski Tour OperatorTOPFLIGHT

Best Specialist Tour OperatorSUNWAY

Best Long Haul Tour OperatorSUNWAY

ALL COMPANIES

Best Agent Friendly SupplierTRAVELPORT

The coveted prizes – the Irish Travel Trade Award 2014 trophies

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46 Early Christmas Presents at Irish Travel Industry’s ‘Oscars’ Masquerade Ball

Christmas came early for the Irish travel industry at ITTN’s 50th anniversary masquerade ball when 46 prizes were awarded – the ITTN Industry Achievement Award, the ITTN Travel Agency of the Year Awards, the ITTN Budding Travel Writer of the Year Award, 23 Irish Travel Trade Awards, 15 Prize Draws of air tickets and holidays for two, and the ITTN Voter’s Prize.

23rd

2014THE

IRISH TRADE

AWARDS

TRAVELYour tru

sted voice in travel 1964 - 2014

The stage is set for the 23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin.

The event was sponsored by the DAA, DoubleTree by Hilton, Falcon Holidays, Grant Thornton, Hertz, Ma-laysia Tourism, Malta Tourism Authority, Salou Tour-ist Board, Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Travel Counsellors Ireland, and with the Spanish Tourism Office organising sponsorship of the cava and wines by Andalucia Tourist Board. Sunway was the big winner this year, collecting three awards for ‘Best Sun Holiday Tour Operator’, ‘Best Specialist Tour Operator’, and ‘Best Long Haul Tour Op-erator’. Aer Lingus, Etihad Airways and Travelport each won two awards, with Travelport once again winning the overall ‘Best Agent Friendly Supplier’. Florida retained the ‘Best Americas Destination’ title, which it had taken from New York last year, and Mexico was a first-time winner of the ‘Best Worldwide Sun Destination’ award. Royal Caribbean International regained ‘Best Cruise Company (3/4 Star)’, while sister company Ce-lebrity Cruises won ‘Best Cruise Company (5/6 Star)’ and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection won ‘Best River Cruise Company’. The new award category of ‘Best Rail Company’ was won by Voyages-sncf.

Voter’s PrizeAll staff working for a licensed and bonded travel agency anywhere on the island of Ireland were eli-

gible to vote and the voting forms were submitted di-rectly to, and then independently collated and audited, by international accountants and consultants Grant Thornton. All fully completed, eligible Voting Forms received were entered into a prize draw, with the winner being randomly selected by Grant Thornton’s computer.

Andrea McHugh, Curragh Travel, Newbridge, Co Kildare, was announced the winner of the Irish Travel Trade Awards Voters Prize of a trip for two to Malta, in-cluding return flights ex-Dublin to Malta, plus accom-modation for three or four nights (depending on flight schedules) in a 4-star hotel, courtesy of the Malta Tour-ism Authority and Irish Travel Trade News.

Sunway Directors Tanya and Philip Airey celebrate in triplicate with Irish Travel Trade Awards for ‘Best Sun Tour Operator’, ‘Best Specialist Tour Opera-tor’, and ‘Best Long Haul Tour Operator’.

Alex Incorvaja, Director UK & Ireland, Malta Tourism Authority, presents Andrea McHugh, Curragh Travel, with her ITTN Voter’s Prize of a trip for two to Malta,

including return flights ex-Dublin to Malta, plus accommodation for three/four nights in a 4-star hotel.

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Irish Travel Trade Awards 2014

Anita Thomas, Emirates, and Beverleigh Fly, BookaBed

Winners of the Hertz competition for a chauffeur-driven transfer to the Irish Travel Trade Awards, Raymond Lee and Stephen Sands of Riviera Travel, arrive in style at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin and are met by Paul Manning (left) and Terry McKernan, Hertz

Ingrid Aagesen, Dubai Tourism, with Filippo Rocchi and Stephen Davitt, Emirates Jose Espartero, Ryanair; Gonzalo Ceballos, Spanish Tourism Office; and Ivan Beacom, Aer Lingus

Viennese lady with Jens Bachmann, Eamon Flanagan and Eileen Penrose, Air Canada

Anita Gackowska, Cork Airport; Mathias Richter, CityJet; and Jan Halliday, Southampton Airport

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Donna Kenny, The Travel Corporation; David Hayeems, Trailfinders Ireland, and Sharon Jordan, The Travel Corporation

John Grehan, Just Sunshine, with Trish O’Leary, Amadeus Sarah Slattery, The Travel Expert; Donna Kenny, The Travel Corporation; and Ger Hurley, Cassidy Travel

Joanne Madden, Travelport; Gordon Pullen, GPS Travel; and Sinead Reilly, Travelport

Mary King, Travelsavers Ireland, and Tony Bond, Ark Travel Group Yvonne Nolan, Etihad Airways, with Graham Aldren, British Airways Charlotte Brenner and Antoinette Young, Falcon Holidays

Maria Targa, Salou Tourist Board; Bettina Haltmayer, Click&Go.com; Natalia Bel, Salou Tourist Board; and Imma Bernabeu, Spanish Tourist Board

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Prize Draw Produces 15 Lucky WinnersAs always, the 23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards offered guests chances to win a lucky draw prize, including tickets for two from

eight airlines, holidays for two in Orlando and PortAventura, a cruise for two on Anthem of the Seas, a champagne reception, ship tour and lunch for eight people onboard a Silversea ship, a mini-cruise to France for a car and two people, two nights with dinner

at Ashford Castle, and a €400 One4all voucher.

The 15 great prizes, their sponsors, presenters and winners were as follows:

Colin Brodie of Visit Florida presents Sinead Reilly, Travelport, with her prize of flights for two from London to Orlando with Virgin Atlantic, seven nights’ accommodation with Sky Suites, and car rental with Dollar Rent a Car

Onur Gul, Turkish Airlines, presents Orla Tooher, GoHop.ie, with her prize of tickets for two from Dublin to Istanbul

Sharon Plunkett, Plunkett PR, receives her prize of flights for two from Dublin to Barcelona/Reus and three nights stay in PortAventura Hotel with access to PortAventura Park, from Maria Targa, Salou Tourist Board, and Kathryn MacDonnell, Spanish Tourism Office

AER LINGUS (IVAN BEACOM): Tickets for two from Ireland to USA/Canada – with upgrade to Business Class if space available: TOM KIERNAN, ASK SUSAN TRAVEL

AIR CANADA ROUGE (EAMON FLANAGAN): Tickets for two from Dublin to Toronto: CATHERINE HALLORAN, IRISH DAILY STAR

AIR FRANCE (THERESA MURPHY): Tickets for two from Dublin to Paris: JOHN HURLEY, DAA

BRITISH AIRWAYS (GRAHAM ALDREN): Euro Traveller tickets for two from Dublin to London: ISABEL HARRISON, SHANNON AIRPORT

CITYJET (PATRICK LUKAN): Tickets for two from Dublin to London City Airport: DECLAN O’CONNELL, LEE TRAVEL

EMIRATES (STEPHEN DAVITT): Tickets for two from Dublin to Dubai: GRAINNE CAFFREY, LOWCOSTBEDS

ETIHAD AIRWAYS (LISA HAMMOND): Tickets for two from Dublin to Abu Dhabi: GEORGE BARTER, J BARTER TRAVEL GROUP

IRISH FERRIES (DERMOT MERRIGAN): Mini-cruise from Ireland to France for a car and two passengers, including 5-star cabin in each direction: GORDON PULLEN, GPS TRAVEL

LOWCOSTBEDS (GRAINNE CAFFREY): €400 One4all voucher: CHRISTINE FITZGERALD, CREATION TRAVEL

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL (JENNY RAFTER): Cruise for two on the inaugural event of Anthem of the Seas: LIZ KILDARE, AFFORDABLE CAR HIRE

SILVERSEA (LYNDA MCCORRY): VIP day with champagne reception, ship tour and lunch for eight persons: DARREN HUTCHINSON, STRAND TRAVEL

SALOU TOURIST BOARD (MARIA TARGA) AND SPANISH TOURISM OFFICE (KATHRYN MACDONNELL): Flights for two from Dublin to Barcelona/Reus and three nights stay in PortAventura Hotel with access to PortAventura Park: SHARON PLUNKETT, PLUNKETT PUBLIC RELATIONS

THE TRAVEL CORPORATION (SHARON JORDAN): Two nights b&b and a dinner for two at The Lodge, Ashford Castle: JIM VAUGHAN, JUSTSPLIT.COM

TURKISH AIRLINES (ONUR GUL): Tickets for two from Dublin to Istanbul: ORLA TOOHER, GOHOP.IE

VISIT FLORIDA (COLIN BRODIE): Flights for two from London to Orlando with Virgin Atlantic, seven nights’ accommodation with Sky Suites, and car rental with Dollar Rent a Car: SINEAD REILLY, TRAVELPORT

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John Cassidy and John Spollen Win Inaugural ITTN Industry Achievement AwardJohn Cassidy and John Spollen, co-founders of Cassidy Travel, were declared joint winners of the

inaugural ITTN Industry Achievement Award, which was presented at the 23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards, held in the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin – Burlington Road.

As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, Irish Travel Trade News introduced the ITTN Industry Achievement Award to hon-our the innovation and contribution to the Irish travel industry made by an individual. Sponsors of the 23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards were invited to nominate their candidate for the award and to provide a brief state-ment on his or her achievements. ITTN also made nominations. The resulting shortlist of candidates was then sent to each nominator, who each sent their first, second and third nominations directly to Stephen Murray of international accountants and consul-tants Grant Thornton. Grant Thornton then allocated three points to first nominations, two points to second nominations, and one point to third nomina-tions, with the candidate who received the most points being de-clared the award winner.

Cassidy TravelFounded in 1985 by John Cassidy and John Spollen, the Cassidy Travel Group has grown from a single high street shop to one of Ireland’s top travel companies with 80+ employees and eight travel shops, along with two specialised divisions, Cassidy Golf and Classic Resorts. John Cassidy said: “John and I were delighted and honoured to receive the ITTN Industry Achievement Award voted by our peers. We would never have received such an award except for the hard and enthusiastic work of our wonderful staff, who work tirelessly as

a team and have been instrumental in the success of our company – some have worked with us for over 24 years. “Cassidy Travel commenced trading in the middle of the 1980s recession and we were well equipped to handle the most recent recession – we even grew a little. The friendships and support from our suppliers has been tremendous and we will be forever indebted to them. “John and I are akin to the odd couple but we have a great work-ing relationship that has stood the test of time. I am extremely for-tunate to have John as a partner who adores the business and is as enthusiastic today as he was when we opened our doors 30 years ago. We look forward to growing the business in these ever chang-ing times. “Thanks to all who voted for us. It was very uplifting and we truly appreciate the accolade. We look upon it as a vote of confidence for the Cassidy Travel and Classic Resort teams.” John Spollen added: “This Award has given John and myself time to reflect on our 30 years in business as one of the longest on-going business partnerships in the Irish travel trade. “We begin 2015 with all sections of the group performing ex-tremely well, and the company continues to grow. We know there is a role for the travel specialist – that’s because we live and breathe travel, we have adapted and we have ensured that we have the best people on the team, with the right tools. “So thank you to the judges who chose to give us the ITTN In-dustry Achievement Award and thank you to Michael and his team in Irish Travel Trade News for what they continue to do.”

Inuaugural ITTN Industry Achievement Award trophies John Spollen in celebratory mood. ITTN Industry Achievement Award joint winners John Cassidy (on holiday, third left!) and John Spollen receive their trophies

from Michael Flood, ITTN; Jimmy Murphy, Grant Thornton; and Neil Steedman, ITTN.

LEINSTERNominated agencies: Club Travel, Eimer Hannon Travel Services, Keith Prowse Travel, Killiney Travel, Mullingar Travel, Trailfinders Ireland, Tully’s Travel.WINNER: CLUB TRAVEL

MUNSTERNominated agencies: Clonmel Travel, Dawson Travel, Heffernan’s Travel, Lee Travel, Limerick Travel.WINNER: LEE TRAVEL

CONNAUGHTNominated agencies: Fahy Travel, Grogan Travel, Mullaney Travel, Society Travel.WINNER: FAHY TRAVEL

ULSTERNominated agencies: Clubworld Travel, Knock Travel, Oasis Travel, O’Hanrahan Travel.WINNER: KNOCK TRAVEL

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ITTN Travel Agency of the Year winners Declan O’Connell (third left), Dympna Crowley and Rosemary O’Connell of Lee Travel receive their Award from Neil Steedman, ITTN; Stephen Murray, Grant Thornton; and Michael Flood, ITTN.

Inuaugural ITTN Travel Agency of the Year Award trophy.

The awards were inaugurated this year as part of ITTN’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The sponsors of the Irish Travel Trade Awards event were invited to nominate two travel agencies in each province, based on their knowledge of the agencies’ day-to-day workings. The 20 nominated agencies – seven in Leinster, five in Munster, four in Connaught, and four in Ulster – were then each invited to submit a brief statement about their business, with a focus on re-cent and future marketing innovations, along with details of their websites and social media pages, and photos of the agency’s exte-rior and interior. These submissions were then assessed by four judges – Mar-garet O’Reilly, Tourism Ireland; Joan Scales, The Irish Times; Michael Flood, Editor, ITTN; and Neil Steedman, News & Features Editor, ITTN – with the judging panel convened by a non-voting Chairman, Ste-phen Murray, Grant Thornton.

Each judge took a particular focus – one analysed the w e b -sites and social media pages, one the type, size and number of branches of the businesses, another the marketing innovations, and the fourth the agency exteriors, shopfronts and interior environ-ments – and reported their findings to the other three judges. Each judge then nominated their first, second and third choices in each province, and Stephen Murray ascertained which agency in each province had received the highest combined rating. A similar process was then undertaken with the four province winners to de-termine the overall winner. Declan O’Connell said: “Lee Travel was delighted to win the in-augural ITTN Travel Agent of the Year award. It was a great endorse-ment of the tremendous effort being made by all of our staff in these challenging times. To win this award and be a part of ITTN’s 50th anniversary made it all the more memorable and now in 2015, when we are celebrating our 40th anniversary, it is a great boost for us.”

Lee Travel in Cork Wins Inaugural ITTN Travel Agency of the Year AwardFour Irish travel agencies were presented with their ITTN Travel Agency of the Year Awards – Club Travel (Leinster), Lee Travel (Munster), Fahy Travel (Connaught) and Knock Travel (Ulster) – and Lee Travel was

declared the overall ITTN Travel Agency of the Year.

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ITTN BUDDING TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR

Deirdre SweenyWins €1,000 First Prize

Six of our seven monthly winners each with a pre-announcement hand on the €1,000 cheque – Irene McCaffrey, Travel Department; Bláithín O’Donnell, Carlson Wag-onlit Travel; Kathryn McCarthy, Australia Travel Centre; Shane Cullen, Killiney Travel; Deirdre Sweeny, Sunway; and Kersti Costello, Grogan Travel (the sev-enth winner was Caroline Martin, Project Travel)

Competition judges Sinead Cregan-Hayes, Recruitment Executive, Travel Counsellors Ireland; Ronan Flood, Managing Editor, ITTN; Cathy Burke, General Manager, Travel Counsellors Ireland; and Neil Steedman, News & Features Editor, ITTN

ITTN Budding Travel Writer of the Year winner Deirdre Sweeny, Sunway (centre), receives her cheque for €1,000 from Cathy Burke, General Manager, Travel Counsellors Ireland, and her certificate from Neil Steedman, News & Features Editor, Irish Travel Trade News

The winner of the 2014 Irish Travel Trade News Budding Travel Writer of the Year Award is Deirdre Sweeny, Sunway Holidays, who reported on her visit to San Francisco and the Californian coast on the Aer Lingus fam trip in October 2014.

Irish Travel Trade News, in partnership with Travel Counsellors Ireland, invited travel agents through-out Ireland who had been on a fam trip or a travel trade prize trip since 1st January 2013 to write about their experience and to submit two or three photos. Each month from May to November all entries were assessed independently by four judges: Cathy Burke and Sinead Cregan-Hayes, Travel Counsellors Ire-land, Ronan Flood and Neil Steedman, Irish Travel Trade News – with the first three not knowing the identity of each author. Each monthly winner received a €100 One4all voucher and an invitation to the 23rd Irish Trav-el Trade Awards Gala Dinner, held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin – Burlington Road on Friday 28th Novem-ber 2014. In November the seven monthly winners were re-assessed, again independently, by the four judg-es. The overall winner, announced at the Gala Dinner, was Deirdre Sweeny, Sunway Holidays, who was pre-sented with the overall prize of a cheque for €1,000. The Irish Travel Trade News team congratu-lates Deirdre and the six other monthly winners – whose entries are published on the following pages – and thanks all the agents who submit-ted entries, together with a special ‘Thank You’ to

the Travel Counsellors Ireland team of Cathy Burke, Sinead Cregan-Hayes, Bernie Whelan and Ciara Mac-Connell for their enthusiasm in helping to promote and run the competition. Deirdre Sweeny said: “Winning the ITTN Budding Travel Writer of the Year award was such an honour and a complete surprise! When I decided to submit a diary of my Californian trip I wanted to portray the excitement of it and tried to give a few travel tips along the way. My aim was to have the reader feel part of the trip and to want to travel there in the fu-ture – or, indeed, to be able to sell it a little better to their clients. “This was my first attempt at putting pen to pa-per and I really enjoyed the experience. I work in a very exciting business and love travelling – to be able to do a log of trips is something that I would love to perfect! I have secret thoughts of becoming a travel writer – however, I will stick with the day job and per-haps continue to write about all the fabulous places I intend to visit this year! “Thanks to ITTN and Travel Counsellors for giving me this great opportunity and a super spend just before Christmas – it brought many a smile with its winnings!”

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Day 1: Dublin – San FranciscoI am so excited! Heading off to San Fran-cisco two days ahead of the Aer Lingus fam trip to see the California coast. On arrival we caught the BART shut-tle light rail to Union Square and the Handlery Hotel – a fab location and fab hotel.

Day 2: San Francisco – MontereyFisherman’s Wharf by taxi to collect

our rental car, a red Mustang convertible with satnav, and my travelling companion was promptly renamed Satnav (Mustang) Sally. After a few wrong turns and the familiar ‘relocating you’, we reached a highway. We planned the coastal route but Satnav Sally brought us to the busy Highway One. However, the trip was fast and we reached Santa Cruz by lunchtime. Santa Cruz is a small sleepy town with small bou-tique hotels and motels. The views are stunning and the pier hosted a huge fun fair. Lunch was in a little fish restaurant on the boardwalk with magnificent views of the rolling waves and surfers. The sun was shining, the roof down, and the music rocking as we sped along the coastal route to Monterey, where happy hours were spent exploring this vibrant town, having cocktails in the Intercontinental Hotel overlooking the wild ocean, and dinner in a local tavern.

Day 3: Monterey – San FranciscoWe left early for the famous ’17-mile drive’, one of the prettiest, spectacular and most exciting drives of my lifetime. We exited at Carmel by the Sea and drove along Clint Eastwood’s small community – a truly special town with lots of little bistros, bars, shops and waterside cafes. This drive is a MUST on any trip to California – simply wonderful! We headed back to San Francisco and the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel for a fun night with our 12 new travelling companions.

Day 4: San FranciscoOn a cool, misty morning we boarded a private tram for a sightseeing tour. San Francisco is made up of hills and has many wonderful historic sights, including the Gold-en Gate Bridge – but that was basking in fog. A leisurely tour and lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf led to boarding a small cruiser that took in the bay area, followed by shopping, sightseeing, getting back to the hotel by local tram, a nice meal in the Wharf area, and a must-do trip to the local karaoke bar.

San Francisco: Confessions of a Californian TravellerOur October, and overall, winner was Deirdre Sweeny, Sunway, who reported on her fam trip to San Francisco with Aer Lingus in April 2014.

A leisurely tour and lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf led to boarding a small cruiser that took in the bay area, followed by shopping, sightseeing, getting back to the hotel by local tram, a nice meal in the Wharf area, and a must-do trip to the local karaoke bar.

Deirdre Sweeny takes the coast road

in her red Mustang convertible

Day 5: San Francisco – YosemiteFrom Dollar Car Rental in O’Farrell Street (tell clients to arrive early and to make sure they get what their voucher states!) a long and slow drive in adverse weath-er conditions brought us to Yosemite six hours later. The local lodge was quaint and full of atmosphere, with rooms over-looking a river and “Beware of the bears / raccoons” clear-ly written around the property. At 4.00am we awoke to screams and shouts – yes, a real live raccoon was standing in the middle of room 101! Both girls were standing on their beds screaming while their ‘visitor’ ate calmly from a packet of open pretzels. Eventually, after much coaxing, the animal fled – taking the pretzels with him.

Day 6: YosemiteSatnav Sally and I were dressed in our finest summer gear, complete with sparkly converse runners, but we were greeted by the locals in snow boots, hats, gloves and full winter attire – it had snowed overnight and temperatures were well below 0°! Travel into the National Park can be slow, but on this cold snowy morning we were cleared through almost im-mediately. WOW, what a feast for the eyes: snow-covered trees, clear blue sky, frost on our breaths, sparkling rivers, the National Park had it all. I have never seen such beauti-ful sights. The Yosemite Lodge is centrally located with a bright, open lobby area – and a stuffed bear in the hotel recep-tion.

Day 7: Yosemite – SonomaA beautiful drive with a picnic lunch enroute brought us to Sonoma and an afternoon of wine tasting (but not for us designated drivers) before parking up at the Flamingo Hotel.

Day 8We set off in convoy to the first of three wine tasting lo-cations, an experience to be remembered. The weather was warm, the grape plentiful and delicious and lots of swirling and tasting filled this day – I was no longer the designated driver!

Yosemite National Park

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There is a lot to be said for modern-day es-corted journeys – business class travel, expert tour directors, high-value inclusions, premium hotels in the best locations, memorable dining experiences, and plenty of free time for leisure or exploration! I had never been to Scotland, so when an op-portunity came to join 35 other agents on this wonderful guided vacation with Insight Vacations I jumped at the offer. Our tour director, Mike Doughty, met us at Glasgow Airport and escorted us to our lovely 4-star city centre hotel, which was to be our base for two nights. From first meeting Mike I was impressed with his local knowledge and care for all of his cli-ents. Here we also got the first glimpse of our luxury tour coach – with business class legroom and spec-tacular views. On our first night we were joined by our tour director for a warm and friendly welcome reception with dinner and drinks, and got to know our travel companions. Next day was spent enjoying Glasgow’s attrac-tions, museums, architecture – and the night enjoy-ing the vibrant city of Glasgow. The following day we headed north for our Highlands Experience. This started with a scenic cruise on Loch Lomond followed by a visit to In-veraray Castle, where we even had the pleasure of meeting the Duke of Argyll. The Duke showed us around his home, which is also one of the sets for the Downton Abbey series. This was followed by whisky tasting in Oban Distillery and a magnificent drive through Glencoe with its high mountain peaks, ridges, rushing rivers and waterfalls. Glencoe was used as a location for the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. Our fourth day brought us to Eilean Donan Cas-tle, one of the most iconic images of Scotland, and

as we stopped by the shores of Loch Ness we were ‘quite’ sure we noticed something moving in the water.... The end of this day brought us to the ‘city in the Highlands’, Inverness, where we enjoyed exqui-site hospitality and most delicious food in Kingsmill Hotel for two nights. While in Inverness our tour director Mike took us to Leault Farm for a personal insight into the daily life of a shepherd and his dogs. We even got to cuddle collie pups and bottle feed orphaned lambs! On day five, on our way to Edinburgh, we were welcomed to Blair Castle, the ancient seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl, and stopped for lunch in beautiful St Andrews, home of the third oldest university in the English-speaking world and now famous as the University where Prince William met his wife. Our final two days were spent in Edinburgh, where a local guide wearing traditional dress walked us through Edinburgh Castle, from where there are spectacular views of the town. On the very last night the spirits were high during the celebration dinner when we said good-bye to our newly found friends. I am looking for-ward to my next visit!

On day five, on our way to Edin-burgh, we were welcomed to Blair Castle, the ancient seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl, and stopped for lunch in beauti-ful St Andrews, home of the third oldest university in the English-speaking world and now famous as the University where Prince William met his wife.

A Highlands Experience with InsightOur May winner was Kerstie Costello, Grogan Travel, who reported on her fam trip to Scotland with Insight Vacations in April 2014.

Four musketeers: Kerstie Costello (second right) and her fam trip colleagues

Kerstie bottle feeds orphaned lambs at Leault Farm

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Day 1: MalagaAfter checking into our rooms at Hotel Tryp Alameda, we set off for lunch at Strachan Restaurant off Larios Street in the city centre. The city was busy setting up for the annual Easter festival, which sees people from all over Spain and abroad come to watch the processions and colourful floats parade through the streets.After a delicious lunch, which in-cluded paella, octopus and a va-riety of desserts, we had a guided visit of the Cathedral, Alcazaba,

Roman Theatre and Gibralfaro Castle, from where we had the best panoramic views of the city and port. We dined at Bodegas El Pimpi on a combination of traditional, local and modern cuisine. Malaga has numerous restaurants that offer fish, tapas and local wines and beers.

Day 2: MalagaThe city markets’ colourful displays of fruit and vegeta-bles, olives and fish, and a sampling of fresh strawber-ries, preceded an interesting guided tour of Picasso’s Museum and the Carmen Thyssen Museum. A stroll along the port brought into view huge cruise ships, luxury yachts and old war ships. Later, we made our coach transfer to Ronda, my favourite destination on this trip.

Day 3: RondaA guided tour of the city included the most important museums and monuments, such as the House of Saint John Bosco, with great views of the city. We stopped for refreshments at the House of the Moorish King, and admired the views of the New Bridge and the gorge. There is so much to see in Ronda – including the Gate of Philip V, San Sebastian Minaret, Arab Baths and the Plaza De Toros.

Later we drove out to the countryside to a local winery, Bodega Joaquin Fernandez, where we were treated to a country-style show-cooking and wine tasting – a must-do for every visitor.Then on to Antequera where, on checking-in at the Coso Viejo Hotel, we had some free time to check out the sights, shops and bars in this beautiful an-cient city.

Day 4: AntequeraAny visitor to Antequera must go to the upper part of the city where they will be dazzled by the over-whelming monumental site of the Alcazaba. The an-cient Moor castle offers views of the vast and varied landscape, including Lovers Mountain, shaped like a face, and the city below – with its 27 cathedrals! We travelled outside the city to El Torcal Natural Park, the most important karst park in Europe – a must-see for those interested in archaeology, flora and fauna. The dolmens of Antequera archeological site are one of the finest and best-known examples of European megalithic architecture. We dined at Arte de Cozina restaurant, enjoying a delicious last supper of typical Andalucian dishes washed down with plenty of local wines. A few of us also went to the local 1980s disco in the town centre, which was, surprisingly, a brilliant night!

Day 5: MalagaI headed straight for the coffee machine and downed a few espressos before our coach arrived to bring us to Malaga Airport. I was sad to be leaving such an amazing place and vowed to come back some day. I would definitely recommend Andalucia for everyone: people sometimes forget that there is much more to the destination than sandy beach-es and blue seas. The Costa del Sol also offers the beautiful countryside, cities and culture of Anda-lucia. Go and see what I have seen, it‘s an unfor-gettable experience!

Andalucia: Much More than Sandy Beaches and Blue SeasOur June winner was Irene McCaffrey, Travel Department, who reported on her fam trip to the Costa del Sol with the Spanish Tourism Office in April 2014.

Antequera from the castle

Fam group in Antequera, with Irene McCaffrey on right

New bridge at Ronda


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St Patrick’s weekend in Washington DC – who wouldn’t want to go! With United, Global Hotel Al-liance and the Doyle Collection as hosts, the trip promised to be two nights of back-to-back luxury, good food, a few drinks, culture and sightseeing. The flight to Washington DC was heaven (I watched three films) and as we arrived in Dulles in the domestic terminal it was a swift exit to our minibus transfer – and at the Dupont Circle Hotel we were greeted with Jameson Mojitos in honour of the weekend that was in it! The hotel was also where An Taoiseach Enda Ken-ny and his entourage were staying on official business and they passed us by on their way to a meeting with President Obama at the White House. We had to resist the urge to shout out “Howeya Enda”. Owned by the Doyle Collection, the Dupont Cir-cle has a familiar boutique-style feel – nothing brash, simply understated luxury all the way. Our rooms had little surprise gifts, including a bucket of Samuel Ad-ams beer for the gents and a bottle of bubbly for the ladies. My Irish name had obviously caused confusion, however, as I was provided with the bucket of beer! The hosted dinner brought an almost seductive de-scription of each dish from our waiter – he certainly had us drooling over our plates. After a night in a local Irish bar where some showed the locals how to Irish dance, we took in a city tour that stopped at the main sights – the Lincoln Memorial, the White House (where we tried to relive the Forrest Gump moment), and Arlington Cemetery –

and finished with a shopping trip in Crystal City Mall. We didn’t have time to see the many museums on offer. You would need days to explore them all. We were surprised by the amount of Irish flags flying jointly with the Stars and Stripes on city poles – it seemed that half of DC had some Irish in them from the amount of green tee-shirts and shamrock regalia being worn proudly. Every second person we met seemed to be a political lobbyist and I could see how an Irish person would fit into a system and way of life where talking your way in and out of situ-ations could be a livelihood. Saturday night dinner was a quieter affair, but the portions in the Hill Country BBQ were huge, and the pitcher of margaritas helped liven things up. We had already transferred to the Omni Shore-ham Hotel, a little further out of Washington than the Dupont Circle and with more of a resort feel. It is a much larger hotel and has an outdoor pool with relaxation area that would be delightful when open for the summer season. On Sunday morning I wandered into George-town and saw the founding district of the nation’s capital. It was quiet and peaceful along the banks of the Potomoc River, where locals were fishing, jog-ging or walking with their children. After an afternoon shopping in the factory out-lets in Leesburg, we returned to Dulles for our return flight. Most of us had been upgraded by United so we had great comfort and food to top off our whirl-wind tour of the airline’s newest US destination from Ireland. We arrived back into Dublin on St Patrick’s Day morning…just in time to start the festive cele-brations all over again! Washington DC surprised me. I expected a busy, built-up noisy city full of traffic. Instead, I found it al-most residential, leafy, quiet, refined. It is full of mu-seums, culture, learning, and, of course, politics.Would I go back? Yes, and I would bring the children too next time. After all…I still have all those muse-ums to explore!

St Patrick’s Weekend in Washington DCOur July winner was Bláithín O’Donnell, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, who reported on her fam trip to Washington DC with United in March 2014

…as Abraham Lincoln looks on!

Bláithín O’Donnell (centre) and fam trip colleagues strike a pose in a classic Washington DC setting…


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It’s Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaLady Gaga performs in Atlantic City

Our August winner was Shane Cullen, Killiney Travel, who reported on his fam trip to Philadelphia and Atlantic City with Visit USA in June 2014.

In June 2014 I was lucky enough to be invited by Visit USA to join nine travelling companions to spend two nights each in Philadel-phia and Atlantic City – two USA destinations that were relatively unfamiliar to me. We travelled out in true style. British Airways was kind enough to upgrade us all to Business Class where we experienced the extrava-gant luxury onboard. This was a new experience, a world away from my usual low-cost carrier, and I have now become accustomed to champagne menus, gourmet filet steaks and cheese platters. I now highly recommend brandies and Baileys to round off any meal and, for my alcohol-induced nap, I made full use of the lie-flat bed. I won’t tell a lie, it was a challenge to leave the aircraft, but Phila-delphia and Atlantic City were to make it worthwhile.

PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is a city known for ‘brotherly love’ and, more important-ly, the infamous movie franchise, Rocky! While I believed the high-light would be the iconic steps on which Stallone raises his arms to the sky, there is significantly more to this place. Certainly the way to explore this city, particularly catering for our Irishness, was the pub crawl. For the more adventurous and ener-getic, the Big Red pedicycle makes you pedal for your next pint (lit-erally!). An alternative, if you are relatively co-ordinated, is a Segway tour, which is a wonderful way to capture the city in a relatively short amount of time. Beyond the wide range of pubs, trendy eateries and quaint cof-fee shops, Philadelphia is home to more than its fair share of history, including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, home to Benjamin Franklin (who basi-cally invented everything but the iPhone), and the steps of the Phil-

adelphia Museum of Art. For film buffs, many blockbusters were filmed here including The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Dark Knight Rises and, of course, Rocky! For those more cultured, Philly is home to The Barnes Founda-tion, which has an extensive, world-class collection of Impressionist, Post-impressionist and Modern Art. For those less accustomed to the finer things in life, The Philly cheese steak and Xfinity Live, a giant sports bar complex with six unique venues, caters for sports fanatics and everything in between. With a combination of a 10-metre HD LED screen and a fire pit, you can’t go wrong.

Atlantic CityA two-hour drive and we reached Atlantic City, characterised by sun, sea and slot machines. Home of the Miss America beauty pageant, this is the east coast’s Las Vegas – with the added benefit of aligning the ocean. Atlantic City is home to high-end hotels with endless indoor ca-sinos housing everything from blackjack to roulette tables as well as nightly entertainment – we saw Lady Gaga with all the lights, sequins and glitter you could imagine. Beyond this, Atlantic City offers a fam-ily-friendly seaside resort, with endless sandy beaches and pristine boardwalks dotted with quirky eateries and amusements. For the serious shoppers and bargain hunters of this world, there is an extensive array of sizeable shopping outlets, perfectly located and easily accessed in the centre of the city. All the fam participants had some fantastic adventures, made new friends, helped locals with their love lives, resourcefully found ways to keep the nights alive – and managed not to get too lost when we took Segway detours.

Shane Cullen takes a Big Red pedicycle selfie in Philadelphia

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Never having been to Africa, my reaction to being invited on a trip with Exodus to Ethiopia was very mixed. I’ll be honest and say I only knew Ethiopia be-cause of Live Aid in 1984. How wrong was I! We start-ed our six-day visit on Ethiopian Airways’ comfortable Dreamliner aircraft from London to Addis Ababa.

Our first day in Addis brought us on a city tour to see Holy Trinity Cathedral and the National Museum, which houses the 3.2 million-year-old fossils of Lucy, the first early hominid.

Driving around the Merkato (market) area was fasci-nating, with all types of street life, from street cooking, recycling and shoe shining to tending to livestock. One scene involved a man carrying 25 mattresses on his head – I have the photo to prove it!

Two days followed in Gonder, home to the stunning Gonder castles and the Debre Birhan Selassie Church famed for its Ethiopian church art. The stories of em-perors, kings, queens, brothers, sisters, wives, invaders and poisonings are fascinating.

From Gonder a four-hour drive, with a stop in Debark for coffee and permit, took us to the Simien Mountains for a two-hour trek through stunning mountain scen-ery. We also came up close to Big Black Beaked Falcons, Vultures and the very tame Gelada Monkeys. At the end of our trek we were greeted by lovely mountain children selling their basket weaving crafts.

Lalibela was our next stop to experience the 11 rock-

Ethiopia: a 5-Star Experience

Kathryn McCarthy plays Snap with children on a mountain in Lalibela Fam trip participants trek to the topSunset at Lalibela

Our September winner was Kathryn McCarthy, Australia Travel Centre, who reported on her fam trip to Ethiopia with Exodus in September 2014.

cut churches commissioned in the 12th century. In 1978 these structures became a UNESCO World Her-itage Site.

Also in Lalibela is the Ashketon Maryam church, which is situated on top of the mountain and involves a two-hour mule trek. This was my highlight of the trip – how-ever it is not for the faint hearted! With approximately 20 minutes to go, my vertigo kicked in. I stopped on a little plateau and sat with a family on the side of the mountain. I had a pack of playing cards in my bag and with five little children, we played snap for one hour.

This was a magical hour and when the rest of the group came down we had coffee made for us by the beautiful 15-year-old daughter of this family. Ending this long day with tired limbs, we had a meal in a local restaurant viewing a mesmorising sunset over Lalibela and some entertaining Ethiopian dancing.

Throughout the trip we had lovely meals. The local dish, ‘Injera’, is an acquired taste, however there are plenty of options to choose from.

There were so many other experiences on this trip, too many to mention. Ethiopia is an amazing country: lush, green, vibrant, and beautiful people. There were early starts and early nights in comfortable hotels on this trip. Every night you are excited to see what the next day will bring.

Ethiopia may not be a 5-star holiday, but it is definitely a 5-star experience.

Our first day in Addis brought us on a city tour to see Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Na-tional Mu-seum, which houses the 3.2 million-year-old fos-sils of Lucy, the first early hominid.

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Stockholm comes highly recom-mended as a new destination for a quick city break. On arrival the op-tions into the city are a one-hour coach journey (ap-

proximately €13), 20-minute express train (€29) or 45-minute taxi (€55). The first two offer the best val-ue and terminate at the central train station.

We stayed two nights in the Radisson Blu Strand Hotel and two in The Diplomat – both offer good travel agent rates and face each other across a picturesque quayside with white tour boats moored alongside. Many cafes and bars, and some tours, had closed for the season.

Stockholm is a superb walking city, with bridges link-ing its many islands. We headed along the waterfront to Djurgården, a national park on an island and home to the amazing Vasa Museum (€14). An original 16th century galleon, the Vasa sank on her maiden voyage just 1,300 metres out into Stockholm Harbour. She lay undisturbed on the seabed for 300 years before being rediscovered, raised to the surface, dry docked and restored. You can get really close and watch the craftsmen at work over four levels in the visitor centre.

Nearby is the ABBA Museum. Tickets (€22) must be booked online in advance for a particular time-slot and the entire venue works on a cashless, card-only basis. If you just drop in, you should be able to book tickets using computers in the foyer, or, for a slight surcharge, at the ticket desk. A recreation of their recording studio includes a piano remotely linked to one in Benny’s home which plays when he does – and a telephone which only four people in the world have the number for ... so if it rings, answer it!

The old town of Gamla Stan is on its own little island and maintains its original mediaeval layout of narrow cobbled streets and tall buildings. If you’re lucky, you might see the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace, where tours are available to certain public rooms.

It’s worth considering getting a 48-hour Stockholm

STOCKHOLM: A SUPER CITY BREAK

Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town

Caroline Martin, Project Travel

Vasa Museum

OUR NOVEMBER WINNER WAS CAROLINE MARTIN, PROJECT TRAVEL, WHO REPORTED

ON HER PRIZE TRIP TO STOCKHOLM WITH SAS IN OCTOBER 2014.

Card (€75) that covers all your transport costs and entry to 80 popular museums, attractions and excur-sions. Travel agents can apply online for up to three nights for two people at a range of hotels to include the Stockholm Card and airport transfers all for just €70 per night. The deal is offered all year round, sub-ject to your chosen hotel’s availability, on http://trav-eltrade.visitstockholm.com.

A good tip is to eat your main meal at lunchtime. Many places offer ‘plates of the day’ for €9 – €11 per person and include a generously sized main dish as well as all-you-can-eat extras such as salads, bread, coffee/tea and in some places a beer or soft drink too.

There’s plenty of retail therapy to choose from in

Stockholm, both high-end luxury brands and a good range of high street stores in a selection of excellent shopping centres.

Stockholm has loads to offer and one thing is certain: one visit is not enough. For more information check out www.visitstockholm.com.

Finally, here’s a piece of Irish/Swedish trivia. The three-masted ship seen on the home page of that website, the AF Chapman, was originally a trading ship called the Dunoyne built by a Dublin merchant in the 1880s. She is now permanently moored in cen-tral Stockholm and is used as a youth hostel.

STOCKHOLM IS A SUPERB WALKING CITY, WITH BRIDGES LINKING ITS MANY ISLANDS.

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BEST AIRLINE TO EUROPE:

AER LINGUS

BEST AIRLINE TO NORTH AMERICA:

AER LINGUS

BEST LONG HAUL AIRLINE:

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

RUNNER UP:SAS ScandinavianAirlines

RUNNER UP:United

RUNNER UP:Emirates

TOP NOMINATIONS:Aer LingusBritish AirwaysLufthansaRyanairSAS Scandinavian AirlinesTurkish Airlines

TOP NOMINATIONS:Aer LingusAmerican AirlinesBritish AirwaysDelta Air LinesUnitedVirgin Atlantic

TOP NOMINATIONS:Air FranceBritish AirwaysDelta Air LinesEmiratesEtihad AirwaysVirgin Atlantic

Aer Lingus is very pleased to receive the ‘Best Airline to Europe’ award. 2014 has been a strong year for the company in the European market. Aer Lingus is committed to offer-ing all our guests the best value and the highest levels of service and care while remaining one step ahead of those competitors who seek to imitate us. We are pleased that this has been recognised by our colleagues in the travel industry and would like to thank everyone who voted for Aer Lingus.

– Mike Rutter, Chief Revenue Officer, Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is also very pleased to receive the ‘Best Airline to North America’ award. 2014 has also been a strong year for the company in the transatlantic market. Aer Lingus is committed to offering all our guests the best value and the highest levels of service and care while remaining one step ahead of those competitors who seek to imitate us. We are pleased that this has been recognised by our colleagues in the travel industry and would like to thank everyone who voted for Aer Lingus.

– Mike Rutter, Chief Revenue Officer, Aer Lingus

We are over-the-moon to win the ‘Best Long Haul Airline’ title for the fifth year in a row. To be voted for by members of the trade is a great honour and it is industry recognition like this that is fantastic for Etihad Airways and illustrates the positive impact we continue to make in meeting and exceeding the expectations of our guests in Ireland.

– Beatrice Cosgrove, Ireland Country Manager, Etihad Airways

Ivan Beacom of Aer Lingus receives the award from John Hurley, daa.

Ivan Beacom of Aer Lingus receives the award from John Hurley, daa.

Lisa Hammond of Etihad Airways receives the award from John Hurley, daa.

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BEST BUSINESS CLASS AIRLINE:

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

BEST EUROPE DESTINATION:

SPAIN

BEST AMERICAS DESTINATION:

FLORIDA

RUNNER UP:Emirates

RUNNER UP:Portugal

RUNNER UP:New York

TOP NOMINATIONS:Aer LingusBritish AirwaysEmiratesEtihad AirwaysVirgin Atlantic

TOP NOMINATIONS:MaltaPortugalSpainTurkey

TOP NOMINATIONS:ArgentinaBostonCaliforniaFloridaLas VegasMexicoNew York

We are thrilled to win the ‘Best Business Class Airline’ award once again this year. We are proud to be in this position as a leader in product and service delivery and will use this award as a springboard for more success in the Irish market.

– Beatrice Cosgrove, Ireland Country Manager, Etihad Airways

The Spanish Tourism Office thanks the Irish travel trade for your continuous support. We are very grateful to all of those who voted for Spain as ‘Best Europe Destination’.

– Gonzalo Ceballos, Director, Spanish Tourism Office

Here at Visit Florida we are delighted to have won ‘Best Americas Destination’ at the Irish Travel Trade Awards 2014. Not only is this award a testament to the great diversity that Florida has to offer, but also to the great value and wonderful memories that Florida gives to our many Irish holidaymakers.

– Colin Brodie, Director UK Office, Visit Florida

Lisa Hammond of Etihad Airways receives the award from John Hurley, daa.

Gonzalo Ceballos, Kathryn MacDonnell and Imma Bernabeu of the Spanish Tourism Office receive the award from Antoinette

Young, Falcon Holidays (second left).

Colin Brodie of Visit Florida (right) receives the award from Antoi-nette Young, Falcon Holidays.

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BEST MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA DESTINATION:

DUBAI

BEST ASIA / PACIFIC DESTINATION:

THAILAND

BEST WORLDWIDE SUN DESTINATION:

MEXICO

RUNNER UP:South Africa

RUNNER UP:Australia

RUNNER UP:Thailand

TOP NOMINATIONS:Abu DhabiDubaiKenyaOmanSouth Africa

TOP NOMINATIONS:AustraliaMalaysiaNew ZealandSingaporeThailandVietnam

TOP NOMINATIONS:DubaiMexicoSpainThailandTurkey

A big ‘Thank You’ to the Irish travel trade for all your support in 2014 and for voting for Dubai in the Irish Travel Trade Awards. Dubai Tourism is delighted to have won ‘Best Middle East / Africa Destination’

– Ian Scott, UK & Ireland Director, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing

It is a great honour to receive such an award voted by members of the travel trade in Ireland. This honour joins numerous awards and accolades that Thailand, and various Thai destinations as well as TAT, have won this year, and reinforce a positive image of the country as a top tourist destination.

– Thawatchai Arunyik, Governor, Tourism Authority of Thailand

It is with gracious thanks that we accept this award. Being voted as ‘Best Worldwide Sun Destination’ for 2014 by the Irish travel trade is rewarding – but also challenges us to continue to take strides in promoting tourism to Mexico from Ireland.

– Milko Rivera Hope, Director UK & Ireland, Mexico Tourist Board

Ingrid Aagesen of Dubai Tourism (right) receives the award from Neil Steedman, Irish Travel Trade News.

Skip Heinecke of Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas (right) receives the award on behalf of Chris Lee, Tourism Authority of Thailand, from

Neil Steedman, Irish Travel Trade News.

Maria Slye, Ireland Representative, Mexico Tourism Board (right) receives the award from Neil Steedman, Irish Travel Trade News.

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BEST FERRY COMPANY:

IRISH FERRIES

BEST CRUISE COMPANY (3/4 STAR):

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL

BEST CRUISE COMPANY (5/6 STAR):

CELEBRITY CRUISES

RUNNER UP:Stena Line

RUNNER UP:MSC Cruises

RUNNER UP:Silversea Cruises

TOP NOMINATIONS:Brittany FerriesIrish FerriesStena Line

TOP NOMINATIONS:Fred Olsen Cruise LinesMSC CruisesNorwegian Cruise LinesRoyal Caribbean International

TOP NOMINATIONS:Azamara Club CruisesCelebrity CruisesCrystal CruisesRegentSilversea Cruises

Royal Caribbean International were delighted to be voted Best Cruise Company (3/4 Star) at the Irish Travel Trade Awards. We continually value the support of our travel agency partners. We look forward to working with you all in 2015 and to bringing new and exciting ships and campaigns to the market.

– Jenny Rafter, Major Account Manager – Ireland, Royal Caribbean International

To be chosen as Ireland’s ‘Best Ferry Company’ by our friends in the travel trade for the eighth year in succession is an achievement that all of us at Irish Ferries are exception-ally proud of. We are delighted and honoured to win this acclaimed award and the fact that it is our 17th time overall gives us great comfort to know that our long-standing relationship with our partners in the travel industry, and indeed Irish Travel Trade News, remains as strong as ever. We would like to sincerely thank everyone for their support and we promise to strive even harder in 2015 to maintain the highest standards and to exceed the expectations of our mutual customers in every way we can.

– Dermot Merrigan, Head of Passenger Sales, Irish Ferries

At modern luxury cruise line Celebrity Cruises we are celebrating our success at taking home the coveted ‘Best Cruise Company (5/6 Star)’ title at the Irish Travel Trade Awards. This latest award follows a hugely successful year for Celebrity Cruises, which has seen the brand operate with a dedicated team and continued investment in both consumer and trade campaigns.

– Lorraine Quinn, Business Development Manager, Celebrity Cruises

Jenny Rafter of Royal Caribbean International (right) receives the award from Isabel Oliveira, Visit Malaysia.

Dermot Merrigan of Irish Ferries (right) receives the award from Gonzalo Ceballos, Spanish Tourism Office.

Nicki Tempest-Mitchell (centre) and Lorraine Quinn (right) of Royal Caribbean International receive the award from Isabel Oliveira,

Visit Malaysia.

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BEST RIVER CRUISE COMPANY:

UNIWORLD BOUTIQUE RIVER CRUISE COLLECTION

BEST CAR RENTAL COMPANY:

HERTZ

BEST RAIL COMPANY:

VOYAGES-SNCF

RUNNER UP:Ama Waterways

RUNNER UP:Affordable Car Hire

RUNNER UP:Railshop.ie / Deutsche Bahn

TOP NOMINATIONS:Ama WaterwaysCroisi EuropeRiviera TravelUniworld Boutique River Cruise CollectionViking Cruises

TOP NOMINATIONS:Affordable Car HireAlamoAvisFlexible Car HireHertz

TOP NOMINATIONS:EurostarRailshop.ie / Deutsche BahnRocky MountaineerVoyages-sncf

Winning the award for ‘Best Car Rental Company’ at this year’s Irish Travel Trade Awards was such a great honour. To receive such a vote of confidence from our peers in the travel industry further endorses our efforts and commitment to the Irish travel trade. We look forward to working with you all throughout 2015.

– Sean Boland, Commercial Director, Hertz Ireland

We were absolutely delighted to win the ‘Best River Cruise Company’ award at this year’s Irish Travel Trade Awards. As the only truly all-inclusive 5-star river cruise company in the market, we guarantee your guests a unique and luxurious holiday, which will ensure them a cruise experience of a lifetime. We strive to offer the best service to agents within the market here and are really privileged to be acknowledged by our colleagues and peers in this manner – so thank you!

– Sharon Jordan, Business Manager – Ireland, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection

We are honoured and absolutely delighted to win the ‘Best Rail Company’ award. This recognition from the Irish travel trade is a massive boost for all the team – especially less than a year after launching our website. With your continued support we look forward to building on this success in 2015!

– Kelvin Dunk, Sales Manager, Voyages-sncf UK

Paul Manning of Hertz Ireland (right) receives the award from Skip Heinecke, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, representing Chris Lee,

Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Sharon Jordan, Donna Kenny and Rosanna Leary of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection receive the award from Isabel

Oliveira, Visit Malaysia (left).

Sinead Cregan-Hayes of Travel Counsellors Ireland (right), repre-senting Kelvin Dunk of Voyages-sncf, receives the award from Skip Heinecke, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, representing Chris Lee,

Tourism Authority of Thailand.

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BEST NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE:SPAIN

BEST ACCOMMODATION PROVIDER:

BOOKABED

BEST TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER:

TRAVELPORT

RUNNER UP:Tunisia

RUNNER UP:Lowcostbeds

RUNNER UP:Amadeus

TOP NOMINATIONS:DubaiPortugalSpainTunisiaVisit USA

TOP NOMINATIONS:Arrow ToursBedsonlineBookaBedExpediaGlobe HotelsLowcostbeds

TOP NOMINATIONS:AmadeusBookaBedLowcostbedsSabre Travel NetworkTravelport

BookaBed is delighted to have won ‘Best Accommodation Provider’ at the 2014 Irish Travel Trade Awards. Being a 100% Irish-owned, trade-only supplier, it is great to get recognition from the Irish travel trade at awards ceremonies such as these. We would like to thank all agents for their fantastic support throughout 2014 and wish them a very successful 2015.

– Karl Tyrell, Managing Director, BookaBed

The Spanish Tourism Office thanks the Irish travel trade for your continuous support. We are very grateful to all of those who voted for Spain as ‘Best National Tourist Office’.

– Gonzalo Ceballos, Director, Spanish Tourism Office

It has been a fantastic year for Travelport Ireland: our Merchandising Platform coupled with our Desktop Solution – Smartpoint – have certainly given us a lot to shout about in 2014. Our recent investment in technology has been very focused on ensuring that choice, productivity and efficiency are the drivers for our airline and agency solutions. We know what is required and we have delivered state-of-the-art, innovative technology solutions that enable our customers to focus on their own business and let us take care of the technology!

– Sinead Reilly, Country Manager – Ireland, Travelport

Colleen Butler, Lee Osborne, Beverleigh Fly, Celine Buckley, Laura Jean Tyrrell, Fiona Farrelly and Ellie Finane of BookaBed receive the

award from Maria Targa, Salou Tourist Board (left).

Imma Bernabeu (centre) and Gonzalo Ceballos (right) of the Spanish Tourism Office receive the award from Michael Flood,

Irish Travel Trade News.

Sinead Reilly (centre) and Joanne Madden (right) of Travelport receive the award from Maria Targa, Salou Tourist Board.

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BEST SUN HOLIDAY TOUR OPERATOR:SUNWAY

BEST SKI TOUR OPERATOR:

TOPFLIGHT

BEST SPECIALIST TOUR OPERATOR:

SUNWAY

RUNNER UP:Falcon Holidays

RUNNER UP:Crystal Ski

RUNNER UP:Crystal Holidays

TOP NOMINATIONS:Falcon HolidaysSunwayTopflightWings Abroad

TOP NOMINATIONS:Club MedCrystal SkiSunwayTopflight

TOP NOMINATIONS:Crystal HolidaysDiscover TravelInsight VacationsSunway

This win was fantastic news, as the ski season starts to kick in – in fact Topflight ended last season with a 25% increase in numbers, and this year is doing well, with the first real snowfall now starting to increase bookings. The award itself, which we now have won for 21 years, a feat that no one else in the travel industry in Ireland has achieved, makes me proud. Proud of what we sell, and proud of our staff. We thank the Irish travel industry for continuing to support and award Topflight with its accolades, as well as its repeat business.

– Tony Collins, Chairman, Topflight Travel Group

At Sunway we strive to bring the best travel destinations to the Irish market. To receive this award is both a huge honour and a resounding endorsement of our ever-growing portfolio, now including Wings Abroad. With nearly 50 years of experience we look forward to the next 50.

– Tanya Airey, Managing Director, Sunway

A first for Sunway, the ‘Best Specialist Tour Operator’ award’, and it means so much! This is an area that we have been growing steadily. To add to our existing offering of seven brands we are about to launch Mark Warner to the trade, so exciting times ahead!


Neal Collins (centre) and Maurice Shiels (right) of Topflight receive the award from Paul Manning, Hertz Ireland.

Mary Denton, Anita Kelly, Tanya Airey, Jeanette Taylor and Deirdre Sweeny of Sunway receive the award from Paul Manning, Hertz

Ireland (left).

Jeanette Taylor, Mary Denton, Deirdre Sweeny, Tanya Airey, Anita Kelly and Dawn Conway of Sunway receive the award from Paul

Manning, Hertz Ireland (third left)

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BEST LONG HAUL TOUR OPERATOR:

SUNWAY

BEST AGENT FRIENDLY SUPPLIER: TRAVELPORT

RUNNER UP:Classic Resorts

RUNNER UP: Amadeus

TOP NOMINATIONS:Classic ResortsIf OnlyKuoniSunwayTravel Focus

TOP NOMINATIONS:AmadeusBookaBedLowcostbedsTravelportWorld Travel Centre

Sunway have for years provided expert knowledge in tailor-made itineraries for long haul travel. This award recognises the knowledge, care and passion from the Sunway team that the industry have come to expect. Thank you to the trade for your support and voting for us in this category.


Travelport Ireland is very proud to retain this title for the second year running. Our focus on customer satisfaction and ensuring that we exceed expectations at every opportunity is justified when we win awards of this nature. The Travelport Ireland operation comprises over 20 staff based on the island of Ireland, with a seven-strong sales team dedicated to ensuring that our customers are always our first priority. Thank You for recognising our efforts, it means a huge amount to us.

– Sinead Reilly, Country Manager – Ireland, Travelport

Deirdre Sweeny, Tanya Airey, Barry Hammond, Mary Denton, Jeanette Taylor, Anita Kelly and Dawn Conway of Sunway receive the

award from Paul Manning, Hertz Ireland (second left).

Joanne Madden (centre) and Sinead Reilly (right) of Travelport receive the award from Michael Flood, Irish Travel Trade News.

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For Online, eNewsletter, Print advertising and Awards sponsorship opportunities, please contact:

Hilary DrummE: [email protected]

Ian BloomfieldE: [email protected]

1st Floor, C4 Nutgrove Office Park, Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, IrelandT: +353 1 216 4222 F: +353 1 296 7514 E: [email protected] W: www.ittn.ie

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“Thank You”to Our Voting Agents, Sponsors and Supporters

The team at Irish Travel Trade News would like to say a big “Thank You” to each and every one of the retail travel agents throughout Ireland who cast their votes in our Irish Travel Trade Awards 2014.

We would also like to give thanks and recognition to the many sponsors and supporters who helped to make the Irish Travel Industry Christ-mas Party, the 23rd Irish Travel Trade Awards Presentations, the inaugural ITTN Industry Achievement Award, the inaugural ITTN Travel Agent

of the Year Awards, and the ITTN Budding Travel Writer of the Year Award such a successful event.

SPONSORS

SUPPORTERS EVENT MANAGERS

PRIZE DRAW SPONSORS

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INDIAITTN News & Features Editor Neil Steedman re-ports on new tourism initiatives being introduced by the Government of India and on some of the most popular destinations - and others less visited - for the 12,000 Irish visitors each year.

The Government of India has set a target to achieve a one per-cent share of global tourism arrivals by next year, and helping to achieve that will be the allocation by the Ministry of Tourism of Rs5 billion (€70m) for the development of five theme-based tourist circuits: Ganga, Krishna, Buddha, North East, and Kerala. A Cruise

Plan will also be ready for implementation soon, while a compre-hensive plan is being prepared with the Ministry of Environment and Forests for promoting wildlife tourism. The Government has also identified 25 monuments for an Adarsh Smarak Campaign, in which they will be developed as model monuments with E-Ticketing. The path-breaking initiative has already begun with the launch of E-Ticketing at the Taj Mahal in Agra and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. Similarly, in another initiative, a 24x7 Incredible India Tourist Helpline has been launched, along with Special Welcome Cards for foreign tourists arriving at nine international airports.

Welcome to

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Welcome to India

TOURIST VISAS

Holders of passports of 43 countries are now eligible to apply for a Tourist Visa on Arrival in India – but nei-ther Ireland nor Britain is included. However, Irish and British passport holders can now apply for an Indian Visa online, at http://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/, and then submit their printed application with supporting documentation at the Indian Embassy in Dublin. The passport should have at least six months va-lidity from the date of arrival in India and should have

at least two blank pages for stamping by the Immigration Officer.

DELHI

Qutub Minar: This 72-metre tower, ta-pering from a 15-metre diameter at the base to 2.5 metres at the top, is the earliest specimen of Muslim architecture. A World Heritage Site monument built by the first Muslim ruler of India, Qutub-ud-din Aikab of the Delhi Sultanate, the Qutub Minar is one of the most famous attractions in India. Nearby is Quwwat-ul-Islam, possibly India’s oldest mosque, and, dating back to the 4th century AD, the Iron Pillar that never rusts.

Humayun’s Tomb: A forerunner of the Taj Mahal in Agra, the mausoleum of Hu-mayun, the second Mughal emperor, was built by the emperor’s wife, Haji Begum. The tomb was completed in 1569 AD, is set in a formal Persian garden, and fea-tures an artful combination of red sand-stone and white marble.

Red Fort: Built by Shah Jahan, the palace fortress, is known as the Red Fort because of the red sandstone fabric of its rampart walls, with its halls, palaces, pavilions and serene gardens was completed in 1648. Within its enclosure are many buildings, including the Diwan-i-Khas (also known as Shah Mahal) and the Rang Mhal (also called Imtiyaz Mahal or palace of distinc-tions).

Bahai Lotus Temple: Shaped like the sa-cred lotus flower, this extraordinary tem-ple is a major highlight of Delhi. Designed by Iranian-Canadian architect Fariburz-Sahba in 1986, it is situated at Kalkaji and

has 27 immaculate white-marble petals. It is open to the adherents of all faiths who come here to pray or meditate silently according to their own religion.

India Gate: One of the main attractions of Delhi, India Gate, was built as a memorial to commemorate the 70,000 India soldiers who died in World War I. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the monument was completed in 1931.

AGRA

Taj Mahal: India’s most fascinating and beautiful mon-ument, and a World Heritage Site, the Taj Mahal was completed in 1653 AD by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his favourite Queen Mumtaz. This perfectly symmetrical monument took 22 years (1630-1652) of hard labour and 20,000 work-ers, masons and jewellers to build and is set amid land-scaped gardens. It was built by the Persian architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

Qutub Minar, Delhi

India Gate, Delhi

Taj Mahal, AgraLotus Temple, Delhi

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi

49

Welcome to India

Agra Fort: Another World Heritage Site is the impos-ing fort on the banks of the river Yamuna, commis-sioned by Akbar in 1565 AD. It encloses numerous palaces and houses such as the Moti Masjid, Di-wan-i-Am, Diwan-i-Khas, Musamman Burj, Jehangiri Mahal, Khaas Mahal, and Sheesh Mahal.

Sikandra: The last resting place of the Mughal Em-peror Akbar, Sikandra lies on the outskirts of Agra city. The Emperor had completed the tomb and laid out a beautiful garden, in his lifetime itself. However, the topmost portion of the mausoleum was completed by his son, Jehangir.

KASHMIR

Srinagar: The Jewel in Srinagar’s Crown, Dal Lake, lies at the foot of the Shridhara (Zabarwan) mountain. A vast stretch of water reflecting the carved wooden balconies of the houseboats and the misty peaks of the Pir Panjal Mountains, the lake is divided by cause-ways into four parts.

Leh: In the capital of Ladakh, Leh Khar Palace stands like a sentinel overlooking the town, and inside old wall paintings depict the life of Bud-dha, while Leh Monastery houses a solid golden statue of the Buddha, painted scrolls, ancient manuscripts and wall paintings. Built by Singe Namgyal as a tribute to his Muslim mother, Leh Mosque is an exquisite work of Turko Iranian architecture and stands majestically in the main bazaar.

NORTH EAST

Assam: Guwahati is the principal cen-tre of socio-cultural, industrial, trade and commerce activities of the entire region. Hugging the shores of the turbulent Brahmaputra, Guwahati is the gateway to the enchanting North East. The Light of the East, Pragjyotish-pura, as it was once known, is said to have been a vast kingdom during the epic period of the Mahabharata.

Sikkim: The capital Gangtok, situated at a height of 1,700 metres, rose to prominence as a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site after the construction of the Enchey Monastery in 1840. Today, Gangtok is a centre of Tibetan Buddhist culture and learning, with the presence of several monasteries, including Rumtek, religious educational institutions, and centres for Tibe-tology. The many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the west of Sikkim include Tashiding and Pemayangtse.

Dal Lake, Srinagar, Kashmir

Leh Palace, Ladakh, Kashmir

Agra Fort

Tashiding Monastery, Sikkim

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Welcome to India

Nagaland: The capital Kohima, located at an altitude 1,444 metres, is the land of the Angami Naga tribe and is so called because the British could not pronounce “kewhira” (the name of the village), which means “the land where all travellers are welcome”. Kohima was the first seat of modern administration as the head-quarters of Naga Hills District (then under Assam) in 1879. The Battle of Kohima during World War II was a turning point in the Burma Campaign, when the Japanese failed to gain a foothold against the Allies in South-East Asia.

Meghalaya: The capital Shillong is located in the Kha-si hills at an altitude of 1,496 metres. This city, the seat of government since the consolidation of the British administration in this part of India more than a cen-tury ago, has a charm all its own with natural scenic beauty enhanced by waterfalls, brooks, pine grooves and gardens. The place, the people, the flora and fau-na and the climate all combine to make Shillong an ideal resort throughout the year.

WILDLIFE

For many people, the two words ‘India’ and ‘wildlife’ immediately summon up the image of tigers, quickly followed by elephants, but India offers a rich diversity of wildlife along with more than 70 na-tional parks and 400 wildlife sanctuaries, including bird sanctuaries. The tiger is India’s national animal and 60% of the world’s wild tigers are in India, which has two-dozen tiger reserves. As well as tiger and elephant, visi-tors can see the one-horned rhinoceros, snow leopard, panther, wild buffalo, wild bear, wild ass, crocodile, deer, blackbuck, porcupine, the Great Indian Bustard … and many more species! Kaziranga National Park in Assam, for example, is inhabited by the world’s larg-est population of one-horned rhinocer-oses, as well as many mammals, includ-ing tigers, elephants, panthers and bears, and thousands of birds. Keoladeo National Park, a former duck-hunting reserve of the Maharajas, is one of the major wintering areas for large numbers of aquatic birds from Afghani-stan, Turkmenistan, China and Siberia. Some 364 species of birds, including the rare Siberian crane, have been recorded in the park. On a gentle slope in the foothills of the Himalayas, where wooded hills give way to alluvial grasslands and tropical forests, the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a great variety of wildlife, includ-ing many endangered species, such as the tiger, pygmy hog, Indian rhinoceros and Indian elephant.

Hornbill Festival, Nagaland

Shillong, Meghalaya

India’s extensive and varied wildlife includes tigers, elephants, snow leopards and one-horned rhinoceroses

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Irish Travel Trade News January 2015

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