The 30th Northern Ireland Travel & Tourism Awards in association with Blue Insurance took place on Friday October 14 in a glittering ceremony at the iconic Slieve Donard Resort & Spa, Newcastle with local tour operator Travel Solutions and the North West of the Province taking home the most accolades.
Travel Solutions won a total of six awards. The entire team were named Best Ski Operator, Best Specialist Operator, Best Escorted Tours Operator and Best Sales Support Team to the NI Travel Trade with Robert Wilson being named Travel Trade Manager/Representative of the Year and Managing Director Peter McMinn being added to the NI Travel & Tourism Industry’s Roll of Honour.
The North West shone brightly as it showed off its travel and tourism talent. Limavady Travel picked up the award for Travel Agent of the Year, while Karen Henderson was awarded the Northern Ireland Special Achievement Award. This year’s Travel Student of the Year was Holly Barrie-Herron from the North West Regional College.
Another notable win at this year’s awards is cruise Line NCL. Vice President for International Business Eamonn Ferrin, a native of West Belfast, was presented with the Northern Ireland Industry Award while the cruise line itself picked up the award for Best Cruise Line, a first for the company.
In another first, this year the Northern Ireland Special Award went to someone outside Northern Ireland – Advantage Travel’s Julia Lo Bue-Said. Julia’s efforts to highlight the plight of the Travel Industry throughout the pandemic has been unmatched and she continues to push for a joint approach for industry support.
Last year’s Travel and Tourism Awards reflected the truly unprecedented time the industry has gone through, but this year guests were invited to celebrate the fantastic achievements of the travel and tourism industry with us in style and most importantly, make some great memories!
Last year there were many changes made to the awards, a reflection of the tough challenges the industry has faced. This year however, the Awards returned to the original categories and brought back some very important awards including; Travel Consultant of the Year, Travel Trade Representative of the Year and Travel Student of the Year.
Judging for the Travel Student of the Year took place in the Europa Hotel in front of a panel of industry experts. Thanks goes to our expert judging panel, Sandra Corkin, Oasis Travel; Brenda Morgan, City of Derry Airport; James McGinn, Hastings Hotels and Diane Poole, Titanic Distillers.
All this year’s student nominees were extremely talented and showed excellent promise for their future careers in the travel and tourism industries.
Over the last few years, the Awards has grown from strength to strength with the continued support of headline sponsor Blue Insurance, however 2022 will be the last year Blue Insurance will headline sponsor and what a better way to finish than with the 30th Anniversary celebrations!
Jonathan Adair of NI Travel News, organisers of the Awards said: “The 30th anniversary of the Awards was a truly memorable evening. Over the past 30 years the awards have raised the standard across our industry. It is incredible to see the achievements of the industry this year and a pleasure to bring our industry back together in more positive times.”
This years Awards ceremony was once again hosted by local comedian Paddy Raff. With his sell-out UK stage shows, national TV show and the frequent production of viral content on social media, he is one of the biggest names on the current comedy scene.
This year’s celebrations kicked off with a Champagne drinks reception, hosted by Dublin Airport where guests were welcomed by a ceremonial piper, courtesy of Loganair.
Later in the evening, Re-Take That took to the main stage, while Fusion entertained guests into the wee hours in the bar. The evenings entertainment (and the late night pizzas) were provided by Jet2holidays.
Hospitality was sponsored by Tourism Ireland with a fantastic ‘A Taste of Ireland’ menu. Dishes included a Northern Ireland Tasting Plate, consisting of Titanic Distillers Whiskey Orange Cured Salmon, Kearney Blue and Poached Pear Tartlet and Kilkeel Landed Crab Arancini; the main course was Roast Mourne Black Gold Beef marinated in Belfast Black and Treacle, served with Gracehill Potato Terrine, Mash Potato, Smoked Bone Marrow Fritter, Caramelised Shallot, Belfast Black Beef Gravy with Confit of Carrot and Broccoli. The dessert continued the ‘A Taste of Ireland’ theme with a Raspberry trio – Raspberry and Pistachio Tart, Raspberry Sorbet and Raspberry Macaroon. The meal was rounded off with a selection of Homemade Irish Fudge served with tea and coffee. Wines on the evening were courtesy of Belfast City Airport and were Sicilia Allumea Grill Chardonnay and Sicilia Alumna Mero D’Avola.
The sponsors for the 2022 Awards and Ceremony were: Blue Insurance, Stena Line, Travel Solutions, Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa, Silversea, British Airways, George Best Belfast City Airport, Jet2holidays, Tourism Ireland, Titanic Distillers and NI Travel News.
The Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards are organised by Northern Ireland Travel News in association with Blue Insurance.
The Winners in Full:
Best Tourist Information Centre 2022 – Visit Belfast
Best NI Visitor Attraction 2022 – Titanic Belfast
NI Tourism Industry Award 2022 – Janice Gault
NI Special Achievement Award 2022 – Karen Henderson
NI Travel Student of the Year 2022 – Holly Barrie-Herron
Best Travel Insurance Company of the Year 2022 – Blue Insurance
Best Luxury Cruise Line 2022 – Silversea Cruises
Best River Cruise Line 2022 – Riviera Cruises
Best Cruise Line 2022 – Norwegian Cruise Line
Best Destination Award 2022 – Spain
Best Ferry Company 2022 – Stena Line
Best holiday Add-Ons or Car Hire Provider 2022 – Do Something Different
Best UK Airline 2022 – Aer Lingus
Best Airline to Europe 2022 – Jet2.com
Best Airline Worldwide 2022 – Emirates
Best Travel Internet Booking System 2022 – Jet2holidays
Best Accommodation Specialist 2022 – BedsOnline
NI Travel Trade Manager/Representative of the Year 2022 – Robert Wilson
Best Ski Operator 2022 – Travel Solutions
Best Escorted Tours Operator 2022 – Travel Solutions
Best Tour Operator to Europe 2022 – Jet2holidays
Best Worldwide Tour Operator 2022 – Gold Medal
Best Specialist Tour Operator 2022 – Travel Solutions
Best Luxury Operator 2022 – If Only…
NI Travel Consultant of the Year 2022 – Naomi Toland
Best Hotel Group 2022 – Palladium Hotel Group
Best Sales Support Team to NI Travel Trade – Travel Solutions
NI Travel Special Award 2022 – Julia Lo Bu-Said
NI Travel & Tourism Industry’s Roll of Honour – Peter McMinn
NI Travel Industry Award 2022 – Eamonn Ferrin
Northern Ireland Travel Agent of the Year 2022 – Limavady Travel
