The women, men and companies that make up the Australian travel industry form the backbone of a booming economic sector – and now there’s a new way to champion their success.

Enter the Australian Travel Awards: a brand new awards programme to champion the best and brightest in the Aussie travel industry.

Presented in association with Seven West Media’s Better Homes and Gardens and 7Travel and featuring Crystal as our principal partner, this consumer and travel trade facing industry awards programme will celebrate wholesalers, destinations, airlines, tourism boards, cruise lines, retailers and the myriad of other companies that make the travel industry so amazing.

And entries are open as we speak!

We know four weeks seems a long way away, but for your entry to win, it needs to rise above and beyond the rest – so make a start now and put your best foot forward.

Judged by more than 70 of Australia’s most experienced travel industry alumni as well as the country’s foremost marketing experts, 37 categories cover the full gamut of the travel industry, and there’s no limit on the number of categories you can enter.

And for one company making the biggest, most impressive splash in the industry overall, the highly coveted Grand Prix Award awaits. The victorious winner of this award will also receive an advertising package worth over $75,000 across the Seven West Media network. And if that’s not a reason to get started on your entry today, we don’t know what is.

If you’ve already started on your entry but are yet to finish it, now is the time!

Entries will close on September 28, 2018 and cost $99 +GST per entry.

Get started on your entries right here and take a look at the categories below:

1. Corporate Travel Agency of the Year – Under $100 million revenue
2. Corporate Travel Agency of the Year – Over $100 million revenue
3. Wholesaler of the Year
4. Specialist Wholesaler of the Year
5. Adventure Wholesaler of the Year
6. Marketing Campaign of the Year
7. PR Campaign of the Year
8. Social Media Campaign of the Year
9. Tourism Board of the Year
10. Technology Provider of the Year
11. Trade Sales Team of the Year
12. Destination of the Year
13. Luxury Travel Brand of the Year
14. River Cruise Line of the Year
15. Ocean Cruise Line of the Year
16. Expedition Cruise Line of the Year
17. Small Ship Cruise Line of the Year
18. Business Airline of the Year
19. Economy Airline of the Year
20. Premium Economy Airline of the Year
21. Low-Cost Airline of the Year
22. Rail Operator of the Year
23. Vehicle Rental of the Year
24. Hotel Group of the Year
25. Hotel of the Year
26. Boutique Hotel of the Year – 10 properties or less
27. Online Booking Website of the Year
28. Travel Insurance Provider of the Year
29. Escorted Touring Company of the Year
30. Travel Agency of the Year – Over 30 employees
31. Travel Agency of the Year – Under 30 employees
32. Employer of Choice
33. Sustainable Tourism Award
34. Social Responsibility Award
35. Innovation in Travel
36. People’s Choice Award – Favourite Travel Brand (consumer public vote via Better Homes and Gardens and 7Travel)
37. Grand Prix (selected by Travel Weekly team for the overall most outstanding entry)

To reiterate, entries are open from now until September 28, so get to it.

And mark these key dates down in your diary:

• Entries open: August 6, 2018
• Entries close: September 28, 2018 – entry fee $99 + GST/entry
• Judging period: submit entries from the financial year July 2017 – June 30, 2018
• Awards night: Friday 30th November 2018 – Paddington Town Hall, Sydney

You can grab early-bird tickets right here (for when your stellar entries win one of our shiny trophies), and find all the nitty gritty details on the website here.

And a massive thanks to all our sponsors!