Oscars of the Travel Industry Announces Grand Tour

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. October 14, 2008

LONDON, UK, March 25, 2008. Recognised as the hallmark of excellence, the world's most prestigious awards program has been acknowledging the leading travel products around the globe for 15 years. To mark their 15th Anniversary in great style, World Travel Awards (WTA) is now expanding its portfolio of regional awards. These regional award ceremonies recognise winners in their own territory and celebrate both individual success and the achievements of the industry.

WTA 2008 Grand Tour will kick off in May with the African Awards in Durban, South Africa and will continue in Sydney (Australasia), Orlando (North & Central Americas), Crete (Europe), Rio de Janeiro (South America) and Abu Dhabi (Middle East). Asia venue is to be announced. This will culminate in the spectacular Grand Finale in December in the Caribbean islands of Turks & Caicos which will honour the travel industry's very best.

To celebrate the enormous achievements of the industry and to focus on the high-level networking aspect of the program, WTA will organise the Grand Tour Winners Dinner in November in London, which will be an invitation only event exclusive to the winners, sponsors and partners of the WTA.

Furthermore, the WTA will establish a bigger platform for green and responsible tourism products by introducing the "Green" awards ceremony, set to be held this September at AquaCity, Slovakia.

In 2007, 1,827 VIP and senior industry figureheads attended WTA ceremonies. 72% of attendees were CEO, Chairman, CIO and CFO; MD's and owners/partners accounted for 19% and senior management 9%. 58 countries were represented from all the leading global power-houses. WTA events are a forum to access, network and do business with the people who shape the industry and its future.

"World Travel Awards is proud of its impartial nature and the comprehensive process of its voting programme. Votes are cast by an audience of 167,000 travel agents and tourism professionals from 198 participating countries. Voted for by industry peers, this level of accountability makes winning an award the greatest form of recognition in the travel business." said Graham Cooke, President & Founder of the World Travel Awards. "Since the announcement of our expansion plans, industry support has been staggering. With a host of exciting new partnership deals and a global media campaign reaching in excess of 270 million already in place, this vindicates our decision to launch the 2008 Grand Tour. We are proud of our 15 year commitment to reward and acknowledge excellence and honoured to be recognized as 'the Oscars of the travel industry'." adds Cooke.

About World Travel Awards

The World Travel Awards were conceived in 1993 to acknowledge and recognize excellence in the world's travel and tourism industry. Now celebrating its 15th Anniversary, the award is regarded as the very best endorsement that a travel product could hope to receive. With thousands of votes cast by travel professionals from 167,000 travel agencies, tour & transport companies and tourism organizations in over 160 countries across the globe, winning a World Travel Award has become one of the highest accolades in the industry. The votes are cast globally by fellow professionals in over 1,000 different categories. Attended by top executives of winning companies, the WTA events are well-established as a forum that brings together all areas of travel and tourism in recognition of their achievements.

ww.worldtravelawards.com

For further press information please contact Nadine Wenn at:

World Travel Awards Limited

T: +44 (0)20 7925 0000

E: [email protected]

12-16 Laystall Street

London EC1R 4PF