Awards of Excellence Dinner Highlights First Day of Luxury Travel Expo

Luxury Travel Expo 2009 kicked into full gear at the MGM Grand Conference Center Tuesday with the second annual Awards of Excellence dinner at The Mirage.

“Luxury Travel Advisor hosts its second annual Awards of Excellence, which will bring together more than 130 luxury travel advisors and suppliers as we celebrate the best in the industry and raise money for a travel industry scholarship,” says Ruthanne Terrero, editorial director of the Questex Travel Group, which includes Luxury Travel Advisor and Travel Agent magazine.

All day Tuesday, agents were showing up to the MGM Grand by the dozens to register before the dinner swept everyone off their feet at night.   Nominees for the awards were hand-selected by a nomination board comprised of influential voices in the travel industry including; Priscilla Alexander of Protravel International, Barbara Gallay of Linden Travel Bureau, Inc. and Bob Malmberg of Malmberg Travel Group.  Winners were decided upon by the readers of the Luxury Travel Advisor Publication.

"This is an amazing week in Las Vegas for the luxury travel market,” Terrero says. “Travel agents and suppliers have already begun flooding into the city for the many educational and networking events that are being held. Vdara, the first hotel to debut in CityCenter, opened this morning and it looks amazing. All of this is going on as Luxury Travel Expo, the top luxury travel event in the industry, is being held at MGM Grand and the Las Vegas Convention Center.”