Irish Travel Trade News is pleased to announce the winner in each province of the inaugural ITTN Travel Agency of the Year Awards. An overall all-Ireland winner has also been selected and will be announced at the Irish travel industry’s ‘Oscars’, the Irish Travel Trade Awards, on Friday 28th November 2014 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin – Burlington Road. To book your seat(s), contact Ian Bloomfield, [email protected], or Hilary Drumm, [email protected]. 
These new awards have been introduced as part of ITTN’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Each sponsor of the Gala Dinner event was invited to nominate two travel agencies in each province, based on their knowledge of the agencies’ day-to-day workings.
The 20 nominated agencies – seven in Leinster, five in Munster, four in Connaught, and four in Ulster – were then each invited to submit a brief statement about their business, with a focus on recent and future marketing innovations, along with details of their websites and social media pages, and photos of the agency’s exterior and interior.
These submissions were then assessed by four judges – Margaret O’Reilly, Tourism Ireland; Joan Scales, The Irish Times; Michael Flood, Editor, ITTN; and Neil Steedman, News & Features Editor, ITTN – with the judging panel convened by an independent, non-voting Chairman, Stephen Murray, Grant Thornton.
Each judge took a particular focus – one analysed the websites and social media pages, one the type, size and number of branches of the businesses, another the marketing innovations, and the fourth the agency exteriors, shopfronts and interior environments – and reported their findings to the other three judges.
Each judge then nominated their first, second and third choices in each province, and Stephen Murray ascertained which agency in each province had received the highest combined rating. A similar process was then undertaken with the four province winners to determine the overall winner.
The results were as follows:
Leinster
Nominated agencies: Club Travel, Eimer Hannon Travel Services, Keith Prowse Travel, Killiney Travel, Mullingar Travel, Trailfinders Ireland, Tully’s Travel.
Winner: CLUB TRAVEL
Munster
Nominated agencies: Clonmel Travel, Dawson Travel, Heffernan’s Travel, Lee Travel, Limerick Travel.
Winner: LEE TRAVEL
Connaught
Nominated agencies: Fahy Travel, Grogan Travel, Mullaney Travel, Society Travel.
Winner: FAHY TRAVEL
Ulster
Nominated agencies: Clubworld Travel, Knock Travel, Oasis Travel, O’Hanrahan Travel.
Winner: KNOCK TRAVEL
