The HBAA Awards took place at the HBAA Annual Forum last night, 8th September.
Presented at host venue, the Holiday Inn Stratford on Avon, the awards are now in their third year and recognise excellence and the promotion of best practice in the hotel booking agency sector. Five awards were presented by HBAA Chairman, Stephen Usher:
Best Demonstration of CSR; awarded to a company’s commitment to sustainability through sound environmental practices and clear demonstration that this is embedded in the culture of the business.
Judge: Mark Lewis, Caterer & Hotelkeeper
Finalists: etc.venues, ACC Liverpool, RNLI
Winner: etc.venues
Mark Lewis, editor, said, “Etc.venues offers a shining example of how businesses can reap personal rewards from investing time and energy into corporate social responsibility. Through its support of the Magic Breakfast, a London-based charity that aims to help under-privileged children achieve their potential at school by providing them with a nutritious breakfast, etc. venues has provided its employees with an added means of drawing personal satisfaction from their working lives. Moreover, its charitable activities have helped engender a greater sense of teamwork and unity. It comes as no surprise, then, that the extent of their fundraising far exceeded their expectations.”
Training & Development Award; demonstration of agents, hotels or venues commitment to the training and development of staff at every level of the organisation.
Judge: Rochelle Long, Meetings & Incentive Travel
Finalists: Lime Venue Portfolio, Principal Hayley, Wyboston Lakes
Winner: Principal Hayley
Rochelle Long, editor, commented, “Principal Hayley’s submission demonstrated a highly structured development programme for all staff, from induction to regular training.
Its case study highlighted not only the personal growth of the 10 participants on its graduate development programme, with eight progressing after the year to more senior roles within the company, but overall benefit to the group in terms of learning and knowledge retention.
The graduate’s training plans contained measurable objectives for each department in which they were placed, while the new Duty manager’s standards manual compiled by the graduates in their development workshops has now been adopted as a group standard.”
Promoting Excellence within the Industry; Awarded to a company delivering excellence to clients by means of a new product or service.
Judge: Gill Upton, The Business Travel Magazine
Finalists: Ardencote Manor, Old Course hotel Golf Resort & Spa, De Vere Hotels,
Resorts & Venues
Winner: De Vere Hotels, Resorts & Venues
Editor, Gill Upton said, “The clear winner is De Vere, for its clarity of strategy and methodology. The scheme – quiz nights – gave the hotel company between four and six hours of interaction with its target audience – booking agents – and a phenomenal result that exceeded its goal. A succinctly written award application.”
2010 saw the launch of the Agent of the Year Award which was voted for by corporate clients. Nearly 2000 votes were cast reflecting the growing presence of corporate buyers within the association.
Agent of the year (Small to medium agency with up to 25 employees)
Finalists: Trinity Conferences, First Choice Conference & Events, Absolute Corporate Events
Winner: First Choice Conference & Events
Agent of the year (Large agency with over 26 employees)
Finalists: BSI, Expotel Hotel Reservations Limited, Conference Care
Winner: Expotel Hotel Reservations Limited
Stephen Usher, Chairman of the HBAA said: “The Awards are highly sought after within the Association as they help demonstrate the professionalism and the drive for raising service levels that we advocate as an organisation. The quality and number of applications increase year on year with the benchmark clearly set for 2011. My congratulations go to all of the shortlisted organisations and of course to the winners.”
