Black Tomato scoops Travel Weekly Globe innovation award for Blink

Black Tomato scoops Travel Weekly Globe innovation award for Blink

The Travel Weekly Globe Travel Award 2017 for Innovation was awarded to online luxury travel agent Black Tomato for its hyper-personalised accommodation concept, Blink. Continue reading

The Travel Weekly Globe Travel Award 2017 for Innovation was awarded to online luxury travel agent Black Tomato for its hyper-personalised accommodation concept, Blink.

The annual awards ceremony took place last night at the Grosvenor House hotel in Park Lane and was hosted by comedian and author David Walliams.

Black Tomato’s Blink service allows clients to design their own temporary accommodation in unique locations from chic safari-style tents to lunar-like bubbles on the Bolivian Altiplanoor.

The London-based company said the idea came from a trend it has seen from clients looking to design their own experiences.

Kate Warner, public relations and product manager, said: “It’s fantastic, amazing to win this. It’s real recognition in the travel industry that we are doing something innovative.

“Since we started Black Tomato we have always strived to be at the front of travel trends and what our clients want, offering something different. Blink sums that up.

“We are stepping away from bland products and giving our customers something unique that no one else can experience.”

The name of the new service refers to “blink and you will miss it” describing not just the curated nature of the product but that it is a one-off.

“Since launch we have had some fantastic inquiries for some really special occasions, from customers and families looking to do a Blink experience across the globe,” Warner added.

“It’s about getting clients out into really remote areas and still having that really luxury personalised experience.”

Blink offers temporary luxury holiday destinations that customers can personalise down to minute detail down to the choice of linen, tableware and the configuration of the room.

To date only a couple of Blink holidays have been delivered since it was launched in December but the firm says it has had lots of interest in destinations like Iceland and Bolivia.

The award for best technology provider, as voted for by Travel Weekly’s trade readers, was Travelport.

Paul Broughton, managing director for UK and Ireland, said: “We had a very strong 2016 and won a lot of business. We are redefining travel commerce. Travel agents that what we are working towards is getting away from being a traditional global distribution system to be a modern travel platform that gives them every solution they need.”