The lucky sixteen winners of the second International Travel & Tourism Awards, presented by WTM London, were revealed last night (Tuesday 5 November) at a glittering awards ceremony in London.
The award winners were honoured in front of an audience of almost 500 senior industry professionals at the brand new venue Magazine London, overlooking Canary Wharf.
Judged by an independent panel of experts from around the world, the 16 awards showcase the best in class of the global travel and tourism industry. Supported by UNWTO and WTTC, more than 90 entries were shortlisted, which was almost 20% more, compared to 2018.
The winners are:
Best National Tourism Board
Gold: #GetNZontheMap by Tourism New Zealand
#GetNZontheMap was a courageous campaign that made people all over the world put New Zealand on their bucket list map.
Silver: Revitalising Tobago Tourism by Gravity Global
Highly Commended: Feel Slovenia, Experience Croatia by Slovenian Tourist Board and Croatian National Tourist Board
Most Innovative Use of Technology within a Destination
Gold: Mare the Witch – Get to know Svetvincenat by Delta Reality & Tumpic Prenc
The project Mare the Witch – Get to know Svetvincenat presents a global innovation that will serve as a prime example for the use of modern technologies for tourism purposes and showcases how the future of tourist sight seeing will look like.
Silver: Legends of Catalonia, the land of Barcelona by Catalan Tourist Board
Best Tourism Marketing Agency
Gold: Recovery for ReDiscovery – Resilience for Dominica by Brighter Group, a Finn Partners Company
After Hurricane Maria subsided and with over 90% of the island’s resources being destroyed, Brighter took immediate action and launched the Recovery for ReDiscovery – Resilience for Dominica campaign to include fundraising, relief support, diaspora engagement, trade engagement and advertising in order to support the nation in crisis and generate visitors.
Silver: Connecting Communities & Transforming Perceptions by AM+A Marketing & Media Relations
Highly Commended: iClick Interactive x Palazzo Versace Hotel: Expanding Brand Presence in Digital China by iClick Interactive Asia Limited
Highly Commended: The Postal Museum Tourism Marketing Campaign Jan 2018 – Dec 2018 by made Tourism Marketing
Highly Commended: 1841, A Creative Agency for Planet Earth by Thomas Cook Group
Best Destination Campaign – City
Gold: Vilnius – The G-Spot of Europe by Go Vilnius
Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, wanted to attract more attention among millennials in Western Europe and around the world, to invite them to experience all the pleasures the city has to offer.
Silver: Visit Dallas & Fort Worth – Activating Americanophiles by MDSG
Highly Commended: Christmas Tree Wonderland by Bournemouth Coastal BID
Best Destination Campaign – Country
Gold: #CoverTheProgress by Ketchum and Discover Puerto Rico
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico. One year later, the island braced for another crisis: 90% of anniversary coverage for disasters is negative. To counteract this, Ketchum challenged media to #CoverTheProgress instead.
Silver: Wales Reimagined: Reviving Post Industrial Landscapes with Adventure Tourism for Visit Wales by Smörgåsbord, Weber Shandwick and iCrossing
Highly Commended: Revitalising Tobago Tourism by Gravity Global
Best Destination Campaign – Region
Sponsored by Discovery
Gold: US Civil Rights Trail by Luckie and the Alabama Tourism Department
The US Civil Rights Trail was created by the Alabama Tourism Department to motivate people to learn more, see more and experience more about the American Civil Rights Movement.
Silver: Not Winter Games by BBDO España/DEC BBDO on behalf of Canary Islands Tourism
Highly Commended: Legends of Catalonia, the land of Barcelona by Catalan Tourist Board
Best PR Campaign
Gold: We’ve Come a Long Way by Jago and Tourism NI
A highly integrated public relations campaign for Tourism Northern Ireland, capitalising on surprising research that identified that over 50% of consumers in the Republic of Ireland had never visited.
Silver: #CoverTheProgress by Ketchum and Discover Puerto Rico
Best Digital Campaign in Tourism
Gold: Discover Your South Africa by Ginger Juice for South African Tourism
South Africa is nothing if not diverse. But as a traveller, this can make it difficult to choose the perfect trip. South African Tourism (SAT) tasked Ginger Juice to create an engaging digital campaign, to inspire people to travel to South Africa and venture off the beaten track to discover some of the country’s lesser-known hidden gems.
Silver: Wanderers – Powered by G Adventures by G Adventures
Silver: Tourism and Events Queensland – #GoForGold with the Queensland Games by MDSG
Highly Commended: #keyframe19: Plenty of influencers – and no ads, please by Hamburg Marketing GmbH
Highly Commended: TBC Asia 2018 by Cinnamon Hotel Management Ltd
Best Digital Influencer Campaign
Gold: #LoveAntiguaBarbuda 2018 by Brighter Group, a Finn Partners Company
Through innovative and creative tactics of hosting the first-of-its-kind influencer conference for 40 top global influencers, the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority successfully generated over 4,500 pieces of social media using the #LoveAntiguaBarbuda with a reach of over 3 million to key target audiences.
Silver: Abu Dhabi Destination Campaign by Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
Best in Wellness
Gold: Santani Resort and Spa – Best in the World by Santani Resort and Spa
Located in the misty mountains, Santani Resort and Spa is Sri Lanka’s first purpose built luxury wellness resort. Since its opening in September 2016 Santani has been celebrated for its one-of-a-kind setting, architecture, cuisine, service and world-class Ayurveda-focussed spa treatments.
Silver: Navarino Challenge by Active Media & Costa Navarino
Best in Responsible Tourism
Sponsored by Red Sea Development The Red Sea Development Company
Silver: Turizem Bohinj – Creating & Marketing a Sustainable Destination Model by AM+A & Mindbrand
Over the past decade, Bohinj Tourism has set a global benchmark for sustainable tourism initiatives that has been reproduced internationally.
Best in Adventure
Sponsored by History
Gold: Women’s Expeditions by Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest adventure travel company, launched a new range of Women’s Expeditions in the Middle East which became one of the company’s fastest-selling product ranges in its 30-year history.
Silver: Guyana as a Leading Sustainable Adventure Destination by LOTUS
Highly Commended: Getting off the beaten track in Northern Thailand… by The Tuk Tuk Club
Best Food Destination
Gold: Discover Hong Kong’s Food Scene Like a Local by Hong Kong Tourism Board
An integrated PR and marketing initiative to showcase Hong Kong as one of the culinary capitals of the world, from fine dining to street food and local eateries.
Silver: The ultimate dining experience by Patronat de Turisme Girona – Costa Brava
Highly Commended: Green Supply Chains by Ljubljana Tourism
Best in Luxury
Gold: The Art of Celebration by CNBC Catalyst
The Art of Celebration sought to, and achieved, the lofty ambition of positioning Raffles as the number 1 hotel brand associated with luxury.
Silver: Carpe Diem Exclusive Boutique Resort Santorini by NEEDaFIXER
Best Attraction
Gold: Spike Island by Spike Island Development Company
Spike Island Cork has sensitively redeveloped and reopened the ‘Irish Alcatraz’, a 104 acre island with 1300 years of rich Irish history.
Silver: Sengan-en, Shoko Shuseikan Museum, and Satsuma Kiriko Glassworks Renovation Project by Shimadzu Ltd
Highly Commended: The Making of Harry Potter by Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
Outstanding Contribution to the Industry as voted for by WTM London Media Partners
Iberostar Group nominated by Hosteltur, Spain
The Wave of Change campaign, implemented across their entire value chain, has become one of the core values of the brand identity. It works through three areas – the elimination of single-use plastics, the responsible consumption of seafood and the improvement of coastal health.
Nicole Smart, ITTAs organiser commented: “The ITTAs awards ceremony was a celebration of the best in class for the travel and hospitality industry. It was a great night.
“And I look forward to seeing more creativity and outside-the-box thinking for 2020.”
