Here’s a sneak peek at your judges for the Australian Travel Awards!

Here’s a sneak peek at your judges for the Australian Travel Awards!
By laurencroft


If you haven’t started on your Australian Travel Awards entry yet, you’ve only got two weeks to go!

These awards are a chance for the industry to unite and celebrate in a brand new way, and we’re thrilled to be hosting this inaugural event.

This awards programme will champion all the wonderful people and companies that make up the Australian travel industry and will celebrate wholesalers, destinations, airlines, tourism boards, cruise lines, retailers and the myriad of other companies that make the travel industry so amazing.

Organised by Travel Weekly, part of The Misfits Media Company, and presented in association with Seven West Media’s Better Homes and Gardens and 7Travel, this awards is consumer and travel trade facing and features Crystal as the principal partner.

There are 37 categories covering the full gamut of the travel industry, with public voting on selected categories with interest generated by Better Homes and Gardens and 7Travel.

Winning an Australian Travel Award will be a show of excellence that can be used to promote your business and gain market share with consumers who demand brands they can trust to deliver the best. Plus, the winner of the highly coveted Grand Prix Award will also receive an advertising package worth over $75,000 across the Seven West Media network.

And that could be you! But you’ve only got two more weeks – entries will close on September 28, and you can find all the entry criteria and other info on the website.

So get started on your entries right here for your best shot at winning one of these new, yet prestigious awards. There’s no limit on the number of categories you can enter, so we’d get started now if we were you.

These awards will be judged by over 70 of Australia’s most experienced travel industry alumni as well as the country’s foremost marketing experts – and today, we’ve got a sneak peek of who you need to impress.

And remember, you only have two more weeks to get your entry in! Enter right here for your chance to win.

Take a look at some of our fabulous judges below:

  • Ainslie Hunt – TMS APAC
  • Ana Pedersen – QBT
  • Emma Barlas – AMERICAN EXPRESS
  • Georgia Gregerson – GTI Tourism
  • Gil McLachlan – McLachlan Tours
  • Jacqui Walshe – The Walshe Group
  • James Hewlett – Collette
  • Jenny Lorkin – Avis Budget Group International
  • Jess Anscombe – Corporate Traveller
  • Joel Victoria – AAT kings
  • John Boulding – Vox S.p.A.
  • Julia Zaetta – Better Homes & Garden
  • Kaylene Shuttlewood – Travel Counsellors
  • Kim Portrate – ThinkTV
  • Libby Armstrong – Virgin
  • Lisa Pile – Regent Seven Seas Cruises Australasia
  • Liz Clarke – Amadeus
  • Lynne Clark – MSC
  • Matt Cameron-Smith – Trafalgar
  • Matt Fletcher – Brand USA
  • Meg Koffel – Princess Cruises
  • Melissa Schembri – C&M Recruitment
  • Michael Grierson – Skyscanner
  • Monique Ponfoort – Ponant
  • Natalie Kidd – PEAK DMC
  • Nicole Backo – British Airways
  • Penny Spencer – Spencer Travel Group
  • Rob Thompson – Tahiti Tourism and RTE Travel Marketing
  • Sandra Chiles – Inplace recruitment
  • Sarah Clark – Intrepid Group
  • Steve Baird – Velocity Frequent Flyer
  • Steve Odell – NCL / CLIA
  • Vanessa Fletcher – Contiki Holidays

The Australian Travel Awards will be held on Friday, November 30 at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney. Grab your early bird tickets here and find all the nitty gritty details on the website here.

And a quick shout out to our sponsors! We couldn’t do it without your continued support.

ATA_Sponsor_Block-130918

Latest News

  • Hotels

Revamped Wailoaloa Beach hotel opens as Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa

Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa is open and ready for bookings after the first phase of a multi-million-dollar transformation. Part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ premium collection, the transformation has seen the completion of 106 guestrooms showcasing contemporary interiors reflective of the premium Crowne Plaza brand and is a first for the […]

  • Tourism

Nielsen Data reveals brands spending big to attract Aussie tourists

TripADeal had the biggest outlay of the more than $153 million spent on travel and tourism advertising in Australia in the first quarter of 2024, followed by Virgin Australia and Flight Centre-owned Ignite Travel, new Nielsen Ad Intel data has revealed. And the industry ad spend enjoyed an increase of 8 per cent on the […]

  • Luxury
  • News

Kamalaya Koh Samui clinches clutch of wellness awards

Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa has so far clinched five prestigious awards in 2024, including being inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ at the World Spa & Wellness Awards in London. Founders of the Koh Samui sanctuary and spa John and Karina Stewart expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the awards. “We are profoundly honoured […]

  • Partner Content

My journey: Before becoming a travel agent I was… a palliative care nurse 

Australind Travel & Cruise, Travellers Choice member Saibra Twigg reveals her life as paediatric nurse then to palliative care before a career leap to travel agent. How did you become a palliative care nurse?  ST I went straight from school in nursing and initially specialised in paediatrics, working at Perth’s Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. […]

Partner Content

by Travel Weekly

Travel Weekly
  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]