Consumer voting in the 2015 British Travel Awards (BTA) is now well underway and early indications are that the number of votes cast will beat the 1.25 million record last year.
Avis EMEA has supported the British Travel Awards since its conception. TravelMole spoke to Connie Georgiou, head of international strategic accounts, about Avis’ long-term involvement with the BTAs.
Q. What are the main benefits of supporting the awards?
A. The main appeal of the BTAs are that they are consumer voted, so give us the opportunity to raise consumer brand awareness, but also to strengthen relationships within the travel industry.
We take full advantage of the brand awareness opportunities offered by the BTAs. Our logo and corporate messaging are rotated on the BTA website which is where all the voters land; we always give a prize for the BTA prize chest this year it’s an Apple i-watch and we receive advertisements in BTA media partner Trinity Mirror Group publications – both national and regional, print and online, as part of our deal. In addition we receive ads and editorial in BTA Connect, which is mailed to subscribers weekly."
Q. The Avis EMEA leisure team is well-known in the travel industry, so aren’t the industry networking opportunities offered at BTA events wasted on you?
A. While we do hold our own events, one must never get complacent about ‘being out there’. There are new people entering the industry all the time, people move around and the actual BTAs evening is a great opportunity to reconnect with existing contacts and build new relationships in a relaxed atmosphere.
Taking place at the end of the year the Awards evening is also a good opportunity for the Avis EMEA leisure team to get together as a thank you for their hard work and celebrate the year’s successes – it’s made even better if we win an Award!
