The Australasian cruise industry has celebrated its leading travel sellers and agencies at the 23rd Cruise Industry Awards, with close to 600 guests gathering at ICC Sydney for what CLIA says was its biggest awards night yet.
Record nominations, 83 finalists across Australia and New Zealand
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) presented 15 awards on Saturday night, recognising finalists from across Australia and New Zealand. CLIA said the program attracted about 1,200 nominations from its membership – the highest number received to date.
CLIA executive director Australasia Joel Katz said the strong turnout and nomination count reflected growing engagement from the region’s travel agent community and the opportunity agents are seeing in cruise right now.
Entertainment-led gala celebrates the “spirit of cruising”
The gala was hosted by entertainer Tim Campbell and featured more than 100 singers, dancers and performers, with the production designed to capture the energy of cruising while celebrating CLIA’s agent community.
Individual standouts recognised across both markets
Among the top individual winners, Tina Wheelock from Cruise Express was named Australia’s Cruise Consultant of the Year, while Lisa Wharfe from Pukekohe Travel took out the equivalent award for New Zealand.
Other individual honours included:
- Jason Rigg (Phil Hoffmann Travel Glenelg) as Australia’s Rising Star
- Flynn Cox (Travel Associates Howick) as New Zealand’s Rising Star
- Lauren Jenkins (MTA – Mobile Travel Agents) as Australia’s Home-Based Cruise Consultant of the Year
- Trish Seeherr (TS Travel Ltd) as New Zealand’s Cruise Broker of the Year
- Lee Tulloch awarded the Media Award for her work published in The Australian
Agency winners include Ignite Travel Group, Main Beach Travel and Pukekohe Travel
On the agency side, Ignite Travel Group was named Multi Location/Brand Cruise Agency of the Year for Australasia. Main Beach Travel won Australia’s Single Location Cruise Agency of the Year, while Pukekohe Travel took out the Single Location honour for New Zealand.
Full list of winners at the 23rd CLIA Cruise Industry Awards Australasia
- Agency/Agent Cruise Promotion of the Year – My Cruises – “Explorations by Norwegian”
- Small Network Promotion of the Year – House of Travel Papamoa Group – “Small Ship Cruising Travel Showcase”
- Large Network Promotion of the Year – Travel Associates – “The Travel Associates Film Festival”
- Cruise Month Promotion of the Year – Globe Trotters Cruise & Touring – “Explore, Discover, Cruise”
- Media Award – Lee Tulloch, The Australian – “Greenland Immersion”
- Rising Star, New Zealand – Flynn Cox, Travel Associates Howick
- Rising Star, Australia – Jason Rigg, Phil Hoffmann Travel Glenelg
- Cruise Broker of the Year, New Zealand – Trish Seeherr, TS Travel Ltd
- Home-Based (Mobile) Cruise Consultant of the Year, Australia – Lauren Jenkins, MTA-Mobile Travel Agents
- Cruise Consultant of the Year, New Zealand – Lisa Wharfe, Pukekohe Travel
- Cruise Consultant of the Year, Australia – Tina Wheelock, Cruise Express
- Online Cruise Agency of the Year, Australasia – Clean Cruising
- Cruise Agency of the Year, Single-Location, New Zealand – Pukekohe Travel
- Cruise Agency of the Year, Single-Location, Australia – Main Beach Travel
- Cruise Agency of the Year, Multi-Location/Brand, Australasia – Ignite Travel Group
