Agents in the West Honored at 2009 WAVE Awards Gala

Top travel agents are recognized at black-tie gala in Beverly Hills

More than 110 companies, individuals and destinations were celebrated by the readers of TravelAge West as part of the TravelAge West WAVE (Western Agents’ Votes of Excellence) Awards held June 4 in Beverly Hills. Honorees were recognized in 44 categories that spanned the cruise, tour operator, airline, hotel and resort and destination travel fields. The awards gave travel agents in the Western U.S. the opportunity to recognize the outstanding qualities and services of their travel supplier partners.

In addition, top travel agents were honored in five categories as part of the 2009 Trendsetters Awards, also presented at the gala.

In the Best Group Booking Sales Effort category, Jason Coleman of Los Angeles-based Jason Coleman, Inc. was recognized for his innovative marketing efforts — a grassroots marketing campaign of original Web sites and social-networking sites — when he organized two theme cruises. He won a week in Paris for two, sponsored by the Globus Family of Brands.

Denise Emory of Cruise & Tour Escapes, Westminster, Colo., won a seven-night Mediterranean cruise, courtesy of Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises & Royal Caribbean International, in the Best Community Service Effort category. She created the Daniel J. Lunger Memorial Fund, a foundation that has raised more than $20,000, trained community members in CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) use and donated an AED to a Colorado-funded school — which helped save a student’s life.

In the category of Best One-Time Sales Event, Michael Ginsburg of Michaels Travel Centre, Inc., Agoura Hills, Calif., won a seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise, courtesy of Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. His highly successful travel show, the Super Bowl of Travel, brought together nearly 3,000 clients and more than 40 of his agency’s preferred suppliers.

Winning a four-night stay at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas in a Panorama suite (including breakfast and two show tickets) was Los Angeles-based All-Travel.com for having the Best Agency Advertising Campaign. All-Travel developed several highly targeted Web campaigns with unique banners and landing pages to target the blogs, forums and social-networking Web sites that attract key audiences. The overall goal for the campaign was to drive additional calls to All-Travel’s agents, and the agency realized a 54 percent increase in call volume.

Last year’s Trendsetter in the Best Travel Agent Cheerleader category, Paula Mitchell Manning of Call Lynn 2 Travel, Los Angeles, won another Trendsetter title, this year for having the Best Employee Recruitment/Education Program. She hosted the first OSSN @ Morongo Hands-On/On-Line Training Day, an event that featured a mini tradeshow, catered luncheon, online training and a post-event bowling mixer. She received a 10-day escorted vacation to Spain, courtesy of Brendan.

“After reviewing the many applicants we had in each of the categories, we have no doubt that the Trendsetters we’ve honored are truly the best in their fields,” said Editor-in-Chief Ken Shapiro. “We are delighted to acknowledge them for their hard work.”

At the black-tie event, guests dined on a four-course meal while being treated to a multimedia presentation of the award recipients.

TravelAge West will also feature the winners in a special Trendsetters cover story due out on Aug. 17.

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TravelAge West (www.travelagewest.com) has been serving the travel industry for 40 years as a leading source of travel industry news and product information. Read by travel agents, travel suppliers and travel industry professionals, the publication has a circulation of 25,000 in 14 Western United States.

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Trendsetter Award Recipients

Best Group Booking Sales Effort

Winner
Jason Coleman, Jason Coleman, Inc.

Runner-up
Sharon Kay Howell, Travel Masters

Best Community Service Effort

Winner
Denise Emory, Cruise & Tour Escapes

Runner-Up
Marc Kassouf, Pride Travel

Best One-Time Sales Event

Winner
Michael Ginsburg, Michaels Travel Centre, Inc.

Runner-Up
Roberta Christman, AAA Northern CA, NV, UT

Best Agency Advertising Campaign

Winner
All-Travel.com

Runner-Up
InSightCruises.com

Best Employee Recruitment/Education Program

Winner
Paula Mitchell Manning, Call Lynn 2 Travel

Runner-Up
Dianne Tuttle, Academy Cruises & Tours/Academy Travel School