Vacation.com honored top member agencies and partners with its 9th annual “Power of the Partnership” (POP) Awards during the farewell reception on May 1 at Vacation.com’s 17th International Conference & Trade Show onboard Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas.
This year’s POP Awards recognized 15 of the organization’s most successful United States and Canadian member agencies and 15 top supplier partners.
2015 Chairman’s Award
- U.S. Agency – CruCon Cruise Outlet Plus, Inc.; Sandra Cleary (Moultonborough, NH)
- Canadian Agency – Robert Q Travel; Nancy Woodworth (London, ON)
2015 President’s Award
- U.S. Large Agency – Cruises & Tours Unlimited; Steve Muraca (Jacksonville, FL)
- U.S. Large Agency – Nexion; Jackie Friedman (Irving, TX)
- U.S. Medium Agency – Vacation Super Store; Jack Pritchard (Omaha, NE)
- U.S. Small Agency – Cruises Etc.; Kevin Kelly (Cleveland, OH)
- Canadian Large Agency – The Destination Experts; Deanna Byrne (Windsor, ON)
- Canadian Medium Agency – Sunrise Travel Services; Jessica St. John (Halifax, NS)
Vacation.com also recognized CruisePRO Members of the Year. This award was presented to the U.S. and Canadian member agencies with the most sales using the organization’s cruise booking tool. The winners included:
2015 CruisePRO Member of the Year
- U.S. Agency – Yankee Trails World Travel; Stephen Tobin (Rensselaer, NY)
- Canadian Agency – KVI Travel; Kyle Oram (Kelowna, BC)
In addition, the Top Newcomer Member of the Year award honored one new Vacation.com U.S. and Canadian agency each that has immediately demonstrated support for the organization by adopting its programs, embraced its suppliers, given valuable feedback and attended key events. The winners included:
2015 Top Newcomer Member of the Year
- U.S. Agency – Magical Moments Vacations; Jenette Kistler (Vanlue, OH)
- Canadian Agency – Marco Polo Travel, Ltd; Jackie Ma (Vancouver, BC)
Vacation.com also presented awards to its top agencies using Travel Leaders Group’s proprietary Worldwide Hotel Program. The winners included:
2015 Top Booker -Worldwide Hotel Program
- U.S. Agency – Cadillac Travel; Jill Jones (Southfield, MI)
- Canadian Agency – Custom Travel Solutions Calgary; Beth Gardner (Calgary, AB)
The 2015 Supplier POP Award winners were chosen based on exceeding overall needs and providing supreme support in specific areas of agent interest, such as marketing, technology and education and training. In addition to honoring its partners based on their specific product category, they were also recognized based on Vacation.com’s membership concept of “Belong. Inspire. Grow.” The “Pinnacle” award was presented to the overall top performing supplier in hotel, car, tour, insurance and cruise in North America. All preferred partner awards were voted on by Vacation.com members.
This year’s supplier winners were:
- Pinnacle Award (North America Partner of the Year) – Viking Cruises
- Air Partner of the Year – Air New Zealand
- Ground Transportation Partner of the Year – The Hertz Corporation
- Cruise Partner of the Year – Celebrity Cruises
- Specialty Cruise Partner of the Year – Crystal Cruises
- Escorted Tour Partner of the Year – Globus family of brands
- U.S. Individual Tour Partner of the Year – Funjet Vacations
- U.S. Insurance Partner of the Year – AIG Travel Guard
- U.S. “Belong” Partner of the Year – Royal Caribbean International
- U.S. “Inspire” Partner of the Year – Travel Insured International
- U.S. “Grow” Partner of the Year – Norwegian Cruise Line
- Canadian Package Tour of the Year – WestJet Vacations
- Canadian Insurance Partner of the Year – Manulife/RBC Insurance
- Canadian “Belong” Partner of the Year – TravelBrands
- Canadian “Inspire” Partner of the Year – Globus family of brands
- Canadian “Grow” Partner of the Year – Sunwing Vacations/Signature Vacations
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