Icelolly.com named Brand of the Year in 2019 Travolution Awards

The 2019 Travolution Awards honoured leading digital travel and technology companies last night with Icelolly.com named the Brand of the Year. The Leeds-based holiday comparison site also took home the award for Best Metasearch Site while Travelzoo, Propellernet, TravelUp, Sykes Holiday Cottages and Love Holidays and On The Beach all won twice. The awards took … Continue reading Icelolly.com named Brand of the Year in 2019 Travolution Awards

The 2019 Travolution Awards honoured leading digital travel and technology companies last night with Icelolly.com named the Brand of the Year.

The Leeds-based holiday comparison site also took home the award for Best Metasearch Site while Travelzoo, Propellernet, TravelUp, Sykes Holiday Cottages and Love Holidays and On The Beach all won twice.

The awards took place in a new venue in central London at the London Hilton Bankside in front of an audience of 350 travel professionals from the travel sector.

The top individual award of the evening went to Booking.com and Booking Holdings chief executive and president Glenn Fogel who has led the global OTA’s strategic mergers and acquisitions strategy for two decades.

More: Travolution Awards 2019: Winners revealed!

Tui Group head of mobile Will Prosser was picked out as one to watch, winning the Rising Star of the Year award sponsored by Gail Kenny Executive Recruitment.

And Start-up of the Year went to VIVID Travel, the upmarket online tailor-made specialist founded by former Travel Republic chief Kane Pirie.

Fast-growing UK OTA TravelUp was named rising brand of the year after a year in which it launched its first mobile app, invested in out of home and influencer marketing activity and enhanced its partnerships with leading airlines like BA, for which it is the GSA for the reinstated Islamabad route.

TravelUp also scooped the Best for Flying category, while cruise.co.uk won Best for Cruising and cab aggregator Minicabit took home the Best On The Road prize.

In the live pitch marketing category, specialist agency Ginger Juice won Best Use of Social for its work with South African Tourism, Accord Marketing won Campaign of the Year for its work with the Original Ice Hotel, and Propellernet won Best Use of Search for its work with Celebrity Cruises.

The final marketing category award for the Best Launch Campaign went to Great West Way, a touring route covering destinations between London and Bristol created by VisitWiltshire.

David Andrews, Director of the Great West Way, said: “We are beyond thrilled to win this award which could not have come at a better time as this month we are celebrating the Great West Way’s official first anniversary.

“We are very grateful to everyone that has helped make the Great West Way a huge success including VisitBritain, VisitEngland and the Discover England Fund, the Destination Management Organisations that have collaborated with us, as well as the 65 official tour operators selling Great West Way packages and the 250 Great West Way Ambassadors.

“With special thanks to the route’s title Ambassadors, Bristol Airport, The National Trust, Canal & River Trust, and Great Western Railway for supporting the Great West Way from the start.

“We’d also like to congratulate the other businesses that received awards at the Travolution awards ceremony.

“To be recognised alongside industry-leading businesses such as Booking.com, British Airways, Jet2 Holidays, Royal Caribbean, Sykes Holiday Cottages, Travelzoo, Travel Republic and TUI Group and is an honour and a fantastic way to start the route’s second year.”

For the second consecutive year the Travolution Awards featured consumer awards voted for by users of icelolly.com. Five awards were handed out for the best TV advert, best alternative use of social, green initiative of the year, most innovative product offering of the year and Most Loved Holiday Company.

Lee Hayhurst, Travolution executive editor, said: “As is always the case with the Travolution Awards we had a mix of established names and lesser known travel firms and technology suppliers winning our coveted awards.

“Having had a record number of entries this year, the job the judges had to soft through the contenders was as challenging as ever, but they were able to pick out the ones which they felt demonstrated the innovation, success and digital acumen we always look for in our winners.

“The new venue, entertainment and host all came together to ensure we had a great evening and a fitting celebration of the very best online and digital achievements in our sector. I’d like to congratulate all those on our shortlists and winners as we look forward to the start of a new decade.”

More: Travolution Awards 2019: Winners revealed!