The TTG Travel Awards 2013 programme is up and running... and this is your chance to put your travel business or yourself at the very pinnacle of the industry.

Taking place in London’s West End on September 10, 2013, the awards will be a celebration of all that’s best about the travel industry, and of those businesses which have been most effective in working with the UK travel trade over the past 12 months.

Last year was the first year of our new format event in Leicester Square and we are delighted to have seen the event recently shortlisted for the Event of the Year at the British Media Awards. In 2013, the ceremony will again take place at the the Odeon West End in the square’s south-west corner.

However, this year we are taking the awards to a new level with an after-party in the ballroom at the Savoy Hotel on the nearby Strand. Our guests will be whisked across town before being given the chance to party the night away at an after-awards event like no other.

New categories
• Escorted and Small Group Touring Operator of the Year
• Luxury Travel Agent of the Year
• The Leading Edge Award, celebrating travel’s biggest innovation
• The Contribution to the Community Award.

We’ve made some changes to the entry process this year too, making it easier to enter but also giving more weighting to our travel agent voting:

• Judging will be weighted 50/50 between agent voting and our judging panels, ensuring travel agents are given a bigger say in the destination of the awards
• Our entry process has been simplified, with entry forms cut down in many cases to just four key questions
• In some key categories, representatives from the finalists will be invited to meet with our judging panels to explain their entries personally

In addition we are bringing our awards into line with most other B2B awards by introducing a fee of £99 per entry, for every category other than travel agency awards and our special prizes. We believe the fee will raise the standards of our entries, and ultimately ensure our winners are of the highest standard imaginable. The fee will also enable us to provide each finalist with a written report as to the judges’ assessment of their business.

The process and timetable will remain the same, with entrants first signifying their intention to enter – before April 18th – before we invite agent ratings, a shorlist is arrived at and our final decisions are made.

What are you waiting for? If you believe in your business, it’s time to show that you too can be a TTG Travel Award winner.

Daniel Pearce, brand director, TTG Media