22nd Annual TTG Travel Awards 2011

The 22nd Annual TTG Travel Awards 2011 were held recently in Bangkok, Thailand. A grand total of 79 winning organisations and individuals were recognised in their particular travel categories. Of these, 21 were first time winners and won the Hermes trophy  The 22nd annual TTG Travel Awards 2011 is a yearly regional event organised by TTG Asia Media’s Publishing Group.

The voting for the winners is done by the readers of the five TTG Publishing publications:- TTG Asia, TTG China, TTG India, TTGmice and TTG-BTmice China. Readers of the relevant industry sectors named their organisation of choice for each title in both online and print voting forms inserted into publications.

Shangri-la Singapore

Among new winners this year were the Best Hotels in Singapore and Bangkok – the Shangri-la Singapore and Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. The Best Integrated Resort award went to Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd for the first time. The Best BT-MICE City went to Seoul for the first time. The Peninsula Tokyo took the Best City Hotel – Tokyo title only three years after winning the Best New City Hotel in 2008.

This year, Lotte Tour became the first travel agency to be inducted into the Travel Hall of Fame when it won the Best Travel Agency – Korea for ten years in a row. The TTG Travel Awards pays tribute yearly to the Hall of Fame honoraries, who are inducted after 10 consecutive wins in the same award.

Centara Grand at CentralWorld

It is good to see that winners in previous years have kept up their high standards. 14 out of last year’s 24 new winners kept hold of their titles, including Centara Grand at CentralWorld as Best Meetings & Conventions Hotel, and InterContinental Manila, the Best City Hotel in Manila. Besides Air India, which was replaced by Kingfisher Airlines as Best South Asian Airline, previous year’s winners in the airline segment continue their reign this year.

“The travel awards have been designed to mirror industry trends,” Mr. Darren Ng, TTG Asia Media’s Managing Director said. “It is important for industry players to note the shifts in tastes of their clientele, as well as the direction their competitors are taking to distinguish themselves as outstanding.”

Grand Hyatt Erawan

Thailand’s presence in the Asia-Pacific MICE scene was clear in this year’s awards. Grand Hyatt Erawan was voted Best Business Hotel this year after winning the Best Bangkok Hotel for the past 3 years. It was just one of the four companies from Thailand that had won prizes in the BT-MICE segment. These included Thai Airways for the Best Airline – Business Class, Centara Grand at Centralworld for Best Meetings & Conventions Hotel, and the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau for Best Convention & Exhibition Bureau.

Thai Airways showed it had more strengths than just MICE, and was one of the two companies that won more than one award with its Best South-East Asian Airline win. Best Western International was the other double winner, winning both the Best Mid-Range Hotel Brand and Best Marketing & Development Effort titles.

Mr Shao Qiwei

In addition to the Best Marketing & Development Effort title, TTG Publishing’s editorial team handpicked three other outstanding achievers in the category. Mr Shao Qiwei, the chairman of the Chinese National Tourism Administration, was Travel Personality of the Year for being proactive and innovative in developing the industry. Singapore was crowned Destination of the Year for the second year running, and Cox & Kings became the Most Entrepreneurial Travel Company.

The Annual TTG Travel Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner are held yearly in Bangkok, in conjunction with Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia and Corporate Travel World (IT&CMA and CTW). The event, Asia’s Only Doublebill in MICE and Corporate Travel, is a one-stop platform for industry professionals to do business, learn and network in a single location – Centara Grand at CentralWorld.

Voting for the TTG Travel Awards 2012 opens in June 2012. The 23rd Annual TTG Travel Awards 2012 Ceremony and Gala Dinner will be held on 4 October 2012. More information on the TTG Travel Awards can be found at: www.ttgasia.com/ttg-awards

TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd is a leading publisher and organiser of events in travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region. Its publications and trade shows provide access and solutions to marketing travel and tourism in Asia-Pacific. For more information Visit www.ttgasiamedia.com