London, June 5th 2015
World Ski Awards – the only global initiative to recognise, reward and celebrate excellence in the global ski tourism industry – has announced the finalists set to compete in its 2015 Awards Programme.
The competitors were revealed today as the all-important 16 week voting window opens.
Members of the ski community, both tourism professionals and ski consumers, are now invited to view the World Ski Awards 2015 finalists here.
All are invited to vote for those brands they think deserve to walk away with the annual ‘Ski Oscars’.
World Ski Awards revealed earlier this year the legendary alpine resort of Kitzbühel will host the World Ski Awards Gala Ceremony 2015 from November 20th-22nd.
A-ROSA Kitzbühel will welcome industry leaders from across the globe for a three day programme of unrivalled networking events, dinners, and exclusive ski experience activities.
The highlight of the event will be of course be the red carpet Ski Oscar Gala Ceremony itself on the evening of November 21st when the World Ski Awards winners will be unveiled.
“We are enormously proud to be hosting the Gala Ceremony of the annual World Ski Awards in 2015 for the third consecutive year here at A-ROSA Kitzbühel,” said Uwe Schramm, General Manager, A-ROSA Kitzbühel. “We are very much looking forward to once again welcoming back many representatives from the industry from all over the world. Of course there will be many first-time participants this year, as well as those visiting Kitzbühel for the first time. This is fantastic opportunity for them to get to know one of the world’s leading ski destinations.”
Schramm added: “As the official voting starts, we are keeping our fingers crossed for all the nominees. We highly appreciate the huge positive impact of the World Ski Awards contributes to the recognition of the ski tourism industry here and are delighted to welcome as many attendees as possible to the legendary winter destination of Kitzbühel.”
The World Ski Awards programme has categories for the Best Ski Resort, Best Ski Hotel, Best Ski Boutique Hotel and Best Ski Chalet for each of the world’s top 24 ski tourism nations.
The individual country level winner with the most overall votes will not only win the national award but also the world level award in the respective category.
Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia will have entrants for the very first time this year, joining Spain, which joined in 2014, and a host of other leading destinations.
Melanie Kaindl, Head of Marketing at event-partner LEITNER ropeways added: “We are happy to work closely with the organisers of the World Ski Awards as we introduce three new Alpine ski countries – Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia – to the programme for the first time.”
A number of categories exist on a world level only; World’s Best Ski Tour Operator, World’s Best Ski Travel Agent, World’s Best Ski Transfer Operator, World’s Best Ski Resort Company, World’s Best New Ski Hotel, World’s Best New Ski Chalet, and the special World Ski Awards Academy Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Ski Tourism.
Gerhard Walter, Managing Director, Kitzbühel Tourism, added: “Kitzbühel is deeply honoured to host the World Ski Award for the third time. Bringing World Ski Award to Kitzbühel allows us to combine the reputation of this high-class event with the skiing heritage of the destination.
“Considered one of the world’s leading resorts, Kitzbühel is known as the home of the most spectacular and thrilling ski race, the Hahnenkamm Race, which we witness each year on the legendary Streif.
“We are looking forward to again welcoming the ‘who’s who’ of the ski business in Kitzbühel.”
Voting will close on September 25th and the finalists with the most votes in each category will win a Ski Oscar – the highest accolade in ski tourism.
To apply to attend please email: awards@worldskiawards.com
