There was a ripple (or rather tidal wave) of excitement in the office when news landed that we’d been shortlisted for a highly prestigious Travolution Award. Not only did this mean we would get to attend the awards ceremony to be held at the trendy Boiler House at the iconic Battersea Power Station, but with the exception of a few coach industry awards, we were mainstream travel award virgins. We were up for Best Tickets/Attractions/Excursions Website and would be sharing a room with the heavyweights of the travel industry – the cream of the travel crop – including the likes of Kuoni, Thomas Cook, TripAdvisor and Virgin Atlantic.
After weeks of build-up, a little flapping over what to wear and the slowest taxi journey ever encountered, last night’s awards finally arrived. What could have been a much more agonising wait sipping wine and dining over beautifully cooked Aberdeen Angus steak, was made much more bearable by our lovely table mates (Digital Visitor, Mr&MrsSmith.com and Kayak – fantastic company!). After speeches from Elle Macpherson and Calum Best who were both there representing charity NACOA, the lights dimmed, BBC’s Jeremy Vine lit the stage with his charming presence and the award ceremony began.
After a small eternity (our award was 26 out of 31 to be mentioned) but much cheering and whooping on the part of Mr&MrsSmith.com, who scooped the Best Accommodation-Only Website award (and later the coveted Travel Brand of the Year award), the moment at last came for the winner of our category to be announced… The competition was stiff, with 6 other websites in the running including:
AttractionTix.co.uk
Isango!
Joobili.com
Sportsworld.co.uk
Tourdust.com
and Viator.com
Sportsworld.com was awarded highly commended, then it was time for the winner to be revealed. It got off to a positive start, with Jeremy announcing that the judges had been impressed with this website’s substantial increase in visitors and revenue over the past year. Yes, this could be us. Then Jeremy revealed that the judges had praised this website’s expert use of social media (could it really be…?!), before announcing AttractionTix.co.uk as the winners. Clapping graciously, we reminded ourselves how honoured we were to be shortlisted and gave ourselves a big pat on the back for flying the flag for touring holidays in the mainstream travel industry. Go us!
Despite not winning the award we had a great night and hey, we even have the pictures of Calum Best and Jeremy Vine to prove it. Congratulations to all who won and we’ll most definitely see you back there next year…