Press Releases
View All Press Releases| WTM | 09 Nov 2009 |
Air Canada wins Global Travel Award at World Travel Market
Air Canada has picked up a prestigious World Travel Market Global Award in recognition of its pivotal role in developing inbound and outbound Canadian tourism.
World Travel Market’s Chairman, Fiona Jeffery, presented the award to Robert Atkinson, General Passenger Sales Manager for UK, Ireland and the Nordic countries, at today’s WTM 30th Anniversary VIP Opening & Reception Ceremony.
WTM’s Global Media Network, comprising of key travel industry media around the world, put forward organisations and individuals which have contributed to their region’s travel and tourism industry. Air Canada was nominated by Canadian Travel Press. David McClung, president of the title’s owner Baxter Media Group, who jointly presented the award with Jeffery and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Canada’s national carrier has been at the forefront of the Canadian tourism sector since the airline was founded in 1936, and its distinctive livery featuring the national symbol, the maple leaf, is one of the industry’s most recognizable.
In 2008, Air Canada, together with its regional partner Jazz carried around 33m passengers, flying direct to than 170 destinations on five continents. It is the market leading airline for international inbound and outbound traffic, domestic traffic and US-Canada traffic. It currently has the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleet of any North American network carrier, with an average aircraft age of just 9 years.
As one of the founding members of Star Alliance, it has played a significant role in the development of airline networks.
The airline is also the Official Airline of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “Air Canada has played the leading role in helping the world to experience Canada and helping Canadians see the world. In our 30th anniversary year, WTM is delighted to present a global award to a leading global airline.”
Every year, World Travel Market Global Awards are presented. The other 2009 winners are: Beijing Tourism Administration, Gianfranco Battisti of Italian National Rail Company, Latin American tour operator CVC Group, the Algarve Tourism Board, Mexican marketing body Consejo de Promocion Turistica, Moscow-based tour operator Capital Tour, Spice Jet Airlines, Carnival Corporation and Marco Livadiotti of Universal Touring Company, Yemen
-ends-About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
Almost 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on London’s ExCeL Centre every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.
WTM, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2009, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.
WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a portfolio of other travel industry events including Arabian Travel Market and International Luxury Travel Market.
RE holds more than 500 events in 38 countries throughout Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific covering 47 industry sectors including aerospace & aviation, healthcare, manufacturing and sport & recreation.
In 2008 RE, part of the Reed Elsevier group, brought together more than six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
