Air Canada Wins Prestigious WTM World Travel Leaders Award

Air Canada Wins Prestigious WTM World Travel Leaders Award

Air Canada has won a prestigious World Travel Market 2014 World Travel Leaders Award in recognition of its contribution to the Canadian and global travel industry over the past 75 years.

The airline received the coveted award today; it was presented by Baxter Travel Media’s Publisher, Michael Baginski and Business Travel Sales UK Manager, Andrew Edmonds accepted the award on behalf of the airline at the WTM World Travel Leaders Awards.

The Awards give WTM’s Official Media Partners – which represent key travel industry media around the world – an excellent platform to congratulate and recognise those companies and individuals that have made significant and groundbreaking contributions to travel and tourism in their region or sector.

Three nominations from each of WTM’s media partners were judged in September by a panel of three, consisting of an independent body, a representative of WTM and the relevant media partner.

Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline and the largest provider of scheduled passenger services in the Canadian market, the Canada-US trans-border market and in the international market to and from Canada.

In 2013, Air Canada together with its Air Canada Express regional partners carried more than 35 million passengers, offering direct passenger service to more than 180 destinations on five continents.

The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, providing the world’s most comprehensive air transportation network.

Air Canada celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2012 and continues to grow. In 2013 the carrier launched a discount brand, rouge.

Reed Travel Exhibitions, Senior Director, World Travel Market, Simon Press said: “Air Canada has provided a foundation for connectivity across the country, providing a lifeline to connect scattered communities across the vast country.”

Every year, World Travel Leaders Awards are presented at WTM. The full list of 2014 winners is:

Brazil: Eduardo Nascimento, President of Nascimento Turismo Operadora

China: James Liang, Chairman and CEO of Ctrip.com

India: Jehangir Katgara, Chairman & Managing Director of TBI Trail Blazer Tours India Private Limited

Italy: Venetian Villas

Portugal: André Jordan, Founder of the André Jordan Group

Russia: Association of Tour Operators

Spain: Turespaña

Travolution/technology: David Speakman, Chairman, Travel Counsellors

UK: EasyJet

Middle East: The Gulf Hotel Bahrain

USA: Roger Dow, CEO, US Travel

Canada: Air Canada

– ENDS –

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.

More than 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.

WTM, now in its 35th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.

WTM 2013 generated more than £2 billion of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.

WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a other portfolio’s of travel industry events including IBTM Events, the world’s leading showcases for the meetings and events industry and International Luxury Travel Market events.

In 2013, RE held more than 500 events in 40 countries bringing together more than six million people from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.

Reed Exhibitions

Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 21 international events in 14 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.

Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.

RTE is part of Reed Exhibitions.

www.reedtravelexhibitions.com