In autumn last year, I happily paid to spend the evening watching Michael McIntyre’s sell-out show at the O2 with my girlfriends.
So you can imagine how excited I was to share the stage with him as we presented the Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards in London last week.
Michael was a perfect host, and had more than 1,000 guests in stitches. But it was backstage that I had a chance to chat to him about his travel experiences, and was thrilled to hear him talk with passion not only about the places he’d visited – but also the travel agent he never fails to book through.
Having such a high-profile celebrity endorsing a good travel agent was music to my ears as we honoured the trade’s favourite suppliers, as voted for by agents just like Michael’s.
It made me feel proud of our industry, a feeling that was multiplied when I witnessed not one, but two standing ovations for Red Sea Holidays’ Nicola Graham as she talked about the charity set up in memory of her son, Reuben.
The record figure of almost £18,000 raised for Reuben’s Retreat showed that, much as the travel industry loves to party, it also has a massive heart.
You might think that as the dust settles on the Globes we will all have a rest – far from it. We now move from praising agents’ favourite suppliers to honouring agents themselves, and we’re already gearing up for the Agent Achievement Awards in April – the first under Travel Weekly ownership.
I hope you’ll be joining us for another great celebration of the best in class.