Travel Weekly takes pride in presenting its first Magellan Awards. From architectural and Web design to marketing and online services, the Magellan Awards honors the best in travel and salutes the outstanding professionals behind it all.
"We're proud to honor this year's winners and are excited to recognize those at the forefront of the travel industry," said Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief of Travel Weekly.
The Travel Weekly Magellan Awards recognize a broad range of industry segments: Hotels and Resorts; Destinations; Cruise Lines; Online Travel Services; Airlines and Airports; and Travel Agents and Agencies.
Measured by the content of their marketing materials and other elements, winning entries were ranked as either gold or silver by a panel of five expert judges.
"The quality and scope of entries was impressive," said Lalia Rach, an educator in hospitality and tourism at New York University, who served as one of the judges. "The style and complexity of communication, strategy and application was apparent in all areas and demonstrated the increased sophistication of the advertising and marketing representing the industry."
Said Peter Greenberg, travel editor for NBC's "Today" show, who also served on the panel: "I was not only impressed by the quality of the submissions but by the criteria required for judging. It was a great compass to guide us."
The winners
Entries are judged individually against a standard of excellence in the category entered. Therefore, a category may have multiple winners.
The following special section is dedicated to the professionals who have earned gold and silver awards in their fields.
In the Travel Agents/Agencies and Online Services categories, the Magellan Awards recognizes the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that is the backbone of the travel distribution system.
Although less than 10% of all entries won a Gold Magellan award, Judy and Maria's Travel of Coatesville, Pa., won two golds for its website presentation "It's All About Teamwork!"
Co-owner Judy Heydt, who with her partner, Maria Thomas, runs the successful (annual earnings in seven figures) combination online/storefront agency of just three people, designed and created the website herself. "I bought a book and studied and learned," she said. The site tallied 195 million hits last year.
It is people like Heydt and Thomas, who successfully operate small companies in the big world of travel, that Travel Weekly takes particular pride in recognizing in front of the entire travel industry.
"This project was a chance to see what's new and novel and to better understand why the tried-and-true easily outlive their 15 minutes of fame," said Patricia Schultz, author of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die," who also served as a judge.
Because of the plethora of websites entered, Schultz said she set her criterion for gold as "a site's ability to seduce and convince us that we've got to go before we die."
The website for J.Q. Porter Exquisite Travel fits Schultz's requisite for gold. It also elicited a "very impressive" from judge Bob Dickinson, former CEO and president of Carnival Cruise Lines. The website is the primary sales tool of the Virtuoso-member agency and, to set the company in a league of its own, CEO Jacqueline Porter said she patterned it after the great jewelry and fashion sites more than travel.
"Aesthetics matter to me, and deeply so," said Porter, who had worked for six years on international accounts for design entrepreneur Holly Hunt. "I appreciate this forum to proudly show what I have worked to achieve within the travel industry as a highest-end travel agent."
If Porter's site is ethereal, Las Vegas' is earthy.
"The LVCVA's print campaign and website offer a great representation of Vegas," said judge Bill Fischer, president of Fischer Travel Enterprises. "It's simple and to the point."
Creator R&R Partners said the firm wanted a complementary campaign to the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" branding, one that would advance Las Vegas' key product lines and drive patrons to the YourVegasIsShowing.com micro-site.
Fischer also liked the clarity and colorfulness of the Simpsons-riding-the roller-coaster ad used in Universal Orlando Resort's gold-winning Simpsons Campaign.
Another marketing campaign that won points from Fischer was the entry for Kiawah Island, S.C., created by Dana Communications. For this entry, the road to the gold began along divergent paths.
"The campaign [had to] fulfill the objectives of two distinct entities: Kiawah Island Golf Resort and Kiawah Island Real Estate. Our challenge was to meet diverse marketing goals with a campaign that seamlessly promotes one destination: Kiawah Island," the firm said. "The Capture Your Kiawah Moment theme begins to tell a story and prompts readers to visit KiawahMoments.com for the rest of the story." KiawahMoments.com, launched June 1, is a bloglike online journal with an interactive format.
Dana Communications also won gold for its advertising/marketing campaigns for StarwoodPro and Millennium Hotels & Resorts.
NCL, HAL among big winners
GSDM Idea City took two gold awards on its own, two working with Kaiser Marketing plus two silver for its Cruise Marketing-Advertising Marketing campaigns, all on behalf of client Norwegian Cruise Line. NCL also plucked a gold award for design in the Contemporary Ship, Suites and Villas category.
Holland America Line struck gold with its Cruise Marketing/Advertising campaign. The line became a multiple gold-award winner for its entries in the Premium Ship and Midsize Ship categories. HAL also won six silver awards.
Royal Caribbean International garnered two gold and two silver awards. One gold was for the Independence of the Seas, voted Overall Large Cruise Ship. Lindblad Expeditions won gold for Overall Small Cruise Ship.
Tauck World Discovery emerged as the sole gold winner in the Overall River Cruise Ship category with its Swiss Sapphire entry.
Viking River Cruises captured gold for its NBC-TV China promotion in the Cruise Marketing-TV Commercial category and for its 2009 River Cruise Atlas in the Cruise Marketing-Direct Mail category. Viking also won two silver awards for Overall River Cruise Ship and Print Advertising. AMA Waterways and Avalon Waterways also took silver in the Overall River Cruise Ship category.
Choice Hotels won two gold and two silver for the marketing of its Cambria Suites brand plus three silver for design elements of the midscale hotel. Earning four gold awards in the Hotels and Resorts category for its public relations work was Lou Hammond & Associates, for Sandals and Beaches resorts.
Commenting on the Beaches entry, which played up the resort's exclusive partnership with Sesame Street, Schultz said: "For an 8-year-old, when Bert and Ernie and water parks are part of the picture, life is a beach!"
And the honors go to ...