Globe Travel Awards winners thank agents for support

“I only put it together right at the end. We’ve done four treks now so when they talked about community and bringing people from the travel industry together, it started to click.I’m really shocked. This award is about everybody who has participated in our G for Good treks. 

“It’s for all the effort people have put in to raising that money. This goes to them as a thank you for supporting us.It’s important to me because I believe in what we do.I believe in the power travel has to change people’s lives.

“I’ve been in the travel industry my whole life and this is my way of giving back to the industry through Abta Lifeline, to help people when they need it the most."

UK leisure sales manager Stephen Roby said: “We welcomed our 400 millionth passenger yesterday and so that makes this award extra special for us. This is a huge achievement for us we are so excited to win it.

“We are always sparking new connections and we’ve been busy opening new routes, so we’re making sustainable travel more accessible for everyone.

“We saw how strong the shortlist was this year and so it’s really special to come out on top. Sustainability is in our DNA and we are always searching for ways to be greener and we work hard to do it.

“So to be recognised for this award really justifies all the work we do behind the scenes and will only serve to encourage us to strive for more and continue what we’re doing.”

Managing director for trade sales Matt Rains said: “Winning this award today feels as good as the first and second times we won.

“I am proud we started the lead on this and it is great to see we have shaped things for the future.

“We have not taken this for granted and we have improved the programme and want to make it was easy as possible for customers and agents so everyone can go on holiday.

“We want to distribute the programme as far as we can. That is why we have been so strong to make it so usable for travel agents and that is one of the reasons for our success.

“We want more people to get the holidays they want and deserve.

“I am going to celebrate the win tonight with a bit of a dance and text tbe team, but most importantly we are going to build on this to serve all destinations like we serve the US."

Managing director Adam Kemp said: "I definitely didn't expect this. As the judges said, we punch well above our weight. 

"We're not the biggest but we're one of the best brands in travel and it's amazing to be recognised for our business culture, which we spend a lot of time on.

"The team are very involved in everything we do. They understand our strategic direction and we talk to them a lot about our results, and I think that came across in our interview with the judges. 

"We have a really strong mission around changing people's lives through travel and that resonates with our employees.

"I think the judges also liked our rewards and recognition activities. 

We have a value champions award and our top employees get to go on a tour to experience community tourism first-hand.

"We live and breathe our culture every day and I hope we were awarded this not just for one or two things, but for what we do day in, day out."

Senior sales director for UK and Ireland Aaron Langford said: “It is an honour to win this award for a 19th year. It is all really about how we deliver for the trade. We are so happy. What a way to start the year!"

Director of sales enablement for EMEA Nicki Lewis said: “We had a legendary year last year and this is testament to that. We want to have another legendary year this year with the trade. It means the world to us that this award is voted for by them."

Managing director Claire Stirrup said: “We are absolutely delighted and over the moon to have won this award. We’d like to say a massive thank you to our trade partners for voting for us - it means the world to us. 

“This award is testament to our staff both shipside and shoreside. It really shows how good our crew is, with Royal Caribbean and Silversea also winning tonight, we’ve completed a historic treble.”

Managing Director UK & EMEA Andreas Nüssel said: “This is an amazing testament to what Silversea and the team does for the entire year. We’ve won this award for consecutive years now, and we are forever grateful for the trust agents give us. 

“Having travel advisors vote for us means they are trusting their customers in our hands, which means a lot. A Globe Award is the most amazing recognition you can get, so this is a huge honour.”

Sales director for the UK and emerging markets James Howlett said: “It means the world to us that the trade still support us like they do. 

“The trade is incredible and this is credit to the work we have done in the last year or so. We are so proud to win this for five years in a row but we don’t take it for granted.”

Senior vice-president and managing director for EMEA, ANZ and global sales enablement Nathaniel Sherborne said: “To win this award back to back is amazing. It is a hotly contested category and we are delighted to win again. 

“It is all massive testament to our team and the support we give our trade partners. Last year was special, and this year is incredible."

Head of UK trade sales Amanda Docherty said: “To be recognised like this is absolutely superb. We pride ourselves on being really easy to do business with, and the rewards that we have in place to recognise our partners are second to none. 

“A big thank you to everybody who supported us. We’ll party hard, but we'll be back at it tomorrow, ready to win for next year.”

Head of UK trade sales Angela Sloan said: “I am absolutely thrilled for the whole UK and global team at Uniworld for everything they do to deliver an amazing customer experience for our travel agents. 

“I want to thank our agent partners so much for all the support and for everything that everyone does for us – we're going to repay you by giving you shiny new ships and new itineraries to share! For river cruise and for Uniworld, this is just the start of what we can be.”

Director of sales for the UK and Europe Steven Harris said: "This is absolutely massive for us. It's the fifth year in a row we've won this award, so we're really privileged to win it. We thank the trade massively for what they do for us. 

“We rely on the trade in the UK, and they do a tremendous job for us, both on our Rocky Mountaineer and Canyon Spirit programme. This year is probably the toughest category [we've seen] so to win it is fantastic.

"The trade team is bigger now and we've got more trade activity planned for 2026 and 2027 in the UK with some of our trade partners, including Travel Weekly - so more to come!"

Sales director Andrea Elwell said: “We would like to thank all the travel agents for voting for us. It means so much to us. This is our eighth year [winning this award] but we always get so nervous – we don’t take it for granted. 

“We were the only supplier on the shortlist that is totally trade-only so it’s because of our dedication to the trade. We love our jobs and we take so much pride in working with agents.”

Chief commercial officer David Sharman said: “I’m very proud of the team, particularly Hayley [Morris, head of trade and partnerships]; she has been instrumental in getting this award for us. 

"We’ve built on what we’ve been doing post-Covid, cementing our commitment to the trade. Niel [Alobaidi, Newmarket Holidays chief executive], is the chair of Atas now and we’re really engaged with that community. 

"Touring and adventure is a competitive market but like cruise, we’re working together to grow - there’s so much opportunity. We’re trying to get out on sale early like cruise has always done, so we’re on sale for 2028 as that’s what our partners are asking for and we’re there to support them."

Founder Wendy Wu said: “We love this award, and we are so happy and proud to win. We provide quality, expertise and help agents to make more bookings, so we're grateful they voted for us. 

“We are going to celebrate by making Wendy Wu even bigger!"

National sales manager Stu Darnley said: “This is our eighth consecutive win. This is not just about the sales team, it’s the ones who are on the phone, the chief experience officers running the trips on the ground. When we are fortunate enough to win, we share it on our internal socials so everyone can share in it. 

“Thank you to all our agent partners. In the next 12 months, we’re going to run the most fams we’ve ever run.Our Change Makers initiative really highlights our commitment to showing agents the real destination. Last year was Jordan and this year, we will be in Morocco. And yes, we will have a couple of parties, but it’s really about showing you can have an amazing holiday but you can still change the world."

Regional director for the UK and northern Europe Elizabeth Fox said: “We are very humbled by the support of the trade since we had Hurricane Melissa. They have totally overwhelmed us with their love for Jamaica. 

“We are really grateful for their support, it really has been heartwarming. This shows the love and the confidence that agents have for Jamaica, and it means a lot – especially this year. We can’t thank them enough."

Chief sales officer Antonis Avdelas said: “This is the fifth year we’ve won this award - and [these awards are] the whole point. I can't express how important agents are for us. We have come to this point in the trajectory of the two brands [Ikos Resorts and Sani Resort] because of their love. And that's priceless."

Head of sales and marketing for the UK Andrea Keeble said: "We've got a very exciting time ahead for Ikos Resorts. We open Ikos Kissamos, our first resort in Crete, in April, which is going to be absolutely spectacular - there's nothing like it. And then we're just going to keep growing, keep improving, keep looking at new ways to support our agents. 

“There's lots of exciting things coming, but the main thing we want to make sure is that agents remain at the centre of everything we do. We are beyond grateful."

Sales and markets strategy director Kostas Sinis said: “I didn’t expect to win tonight; it’s such a fantastic trade recognition and I’m beyond honoured. 

“We’re expanding the team this year with two more people and we’re already seeing great growth from last year. We have some great trade initiatives coming up this year too so there’s lots to look forward to.”

Director of marketing Kevin Gibson said: "We have never had a bigger year as we did last year when we opened our brand new theme park Universal Epic Universe in May 2025, and we did everything we could to share that message far and wide with the trade. 

“Everything we do is through agents, everything we sell is through agents, so we're really grateful to them.”

Travel agent relationships director Alan Cross said: "What a fantastic way to start the year. We never take these awards for granted.

"We really appreciate the support from independent travel agents. I think we've won this because we're a grounded company; what you see is what you get. We're down to earth and honest and agents respect that."

UK head of commercial and national sales Jon Sheppard said: “We’re absolutely delighted. We’d like to express our gratitude to the UK trade - we greatly appreciate their support.

“We’ve had an ongoing focus on the UK trade. The Edinburgh route is now bedded in, we’re broadening our reach across the UK trade and continually investing in our services to Dubai and beyond.”

Service recovery programme manager Nick Dranko said: "It's great to be here to representing what was Europe's most punctual hub airport last year and this award is fantastic recognition of all the hard work our colleagues have put in over the past 12 months.

"We've spent a lot of time communicating with the travel trade, and our digital team are constantly having conversations with our trade partners to communicate what their passengers can expect when they get to Heathrow."We've already had a lot of fun tonight and now we're going to have a lot more fun now celebrating."

Managing director Simon Applebaum said: “Every award is special but the Globes is the biggest of them all. 

“We are delighted to have retained this award; our whole Gold Medal world revolves around agents and it’s lovely to be appreciated. It means the globe!”

Head of trade sales Gary King said: “The Globe Awards are so important to us – they’re kind of what we live for. We’ve won 22 awards over the past 15 years, and to know we’re being voted for by our agent partners who we work with day in, day out, 365 days a year, just makes us so grateful to them. 

“Our trade team has doubled in the past two years, and everything we do is to make sure agents feel fully supported. This is the best event of the whole year – it's absolutely made my year already and it’s only just begun.”

Sales director Tracy Docherty said: “It means the world to us as a trade-only operator. In peaks, we’ve got so many agents incentives running and our amazing team are out on the road. Our product is huge and there’s so much more to come, including hopefully a brand-new website at the end of the year.

“The celebrations begin when we get back to Glasgow tomorrow because it’s not just about us here tonight but the team that service and look after our travel agents.”

Sales director Adrian Smyth said: "We feel so ecstatic and honoured that agents voted for us; I think they did so because they love dealing with our team. 

“Our team is just exceptional. Our system is the best there is and I think we deliver exactly what agents need."

General manager for travel agent relationships Jade Evers said: “It is a privilege to win this award and the support of travel agents means everything to us. 

“We work hard to do our best for our agents and the feeling of going on stage to receive this award was indescribable. It is just so special.”

Sales director Christie Green said: “We really appreciate the support from our trade partners. We are absolutely delighted to win this award and this is such a vote of confidence from them. 

“I want to spread the message that we will not only continue to support our trade partners but in 2026 we will support them more than we’ve ever done before.This is our tenth award at the Globes overall, so this is a massive milestone for us.”

Head of sales for the UK and Ireland Angela Muir said: “It’s difficult to put into words what this award, this year, means to us. This is for Joanne Muir, our colleague who passed away in November - she was fundamental to getting us to where we are today. We dedicate this award to her - as well as to the rest of our team.

“We have been 100% consistent, honest and supportive of the trade. We appreciate every single vote.”

Co-owner and group managing director Diana Evans said: “We are over the moon - absolutely delighted. We really work with agents and there's no difference between our direct customer policy and our agent policy. 

“Agents and the customers are at the heart of everything that we do.”

UK national retail manager Lindsay Garvey-Jones said: “We are so proud that we get to work with talented travel professionals that believe in the product and service we offer. This award really is the icing on the cake. 

“We’ve been very visible this past year, with lots of conferences, roadshows and events. 

“We listen and we care very deeply about the customer journey, our service and the support that we give our travel professionals - we never take their support for granted.”

Chief commercial officer Cressida Sergeant said: “This is a huge shock but such a lovely surprise. It’s so great to win something that’s been voted for by people in the industry. 

“Over the last 12 months we’ve had great product releases, customer feedback and have worked closely with frontline agents. The past year has been all about innovation and we’ve embraced AI in a positive manner.

“It’s been a breakthrough year for us in terms of growth and this really is the icing on the cake. It's a fantastic way to start 2026.”

“It is insane that I won this award. My legs are like jelly. I cannot believe it. There were so many amazing people in this category and I want to thank everyone who voted for me from the bottom of the heart. 

“It is absolutely amazing to be standing here.I can’t wait to celebrate with my amazing team at Riviera Travel. They are the absolute best. And I’ll then be texting my family and everyone I know about it! We work in such an incredible industry and it’s such an honour to be the first to win this. It means everything.”

Trade general manager Jade Evers said: "All three of our awards tonight mean the world to us but this one is extra special and the icing on the cake.

"We work every day to make sure we're delivering what we need to deliver for our travel agents partners and this demonstrates we're getting it right. We want to say a massive thank you to agents for supporting us and believing in us.

"We always try to work with the trade in different ways with new initiatives; we're always looking at new and inventive ways to achieve more for our agent partners.”