WYSE Travel Confederation announces 2018 Global Youth Travel Award winners
MEDIA RELEASE
WYSE Travel Confederation announces 2018 Global Youth Travel Award winners
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 22 September 2018
Outstanding contributors in the youth and student travel industry were celebrated on Friday, 21 September during the 2018 Global Youth Travel Awards (GYTA). Winners of the 14 GYTA award categories, including 10 nominated and four consumer-voted awards, were announced at a gala dinner during the 2018 World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
This year’s judges chose from an extremely high calibre of entries, including very competitive submissions in two of our newest categories: Best Social Space in a Hostel and Best Sustainable Tour Operator.
WYSE Travel Confederation’s Director General said the quality of entries for these categories demonstrates a very clear stance to not only meet the changing needs of young people, but also the very urgent and pressing needs of society and the environment.
David Chapman said, “The entries received for this iteration of the awards were outstanding and really demonstrated the exceptional initiatives and innovative ideas currently occurring in the realm of youth travel.”
The 2018 Global Youth Travel Award winners are:
Nominated Categories:
Best Education Abroad Provider: Greenheart International
Best Marketing Campaign: Tourism Australia
Best Social Responsibility Initiative: G Adventures
Best Social Space in a Hostel: Abraham Hostel Tel Aviv
Best Sustainable Tour Operator: G Adventures
Best Travel Safety Initiative: Travello App
Best Travel Technology Product: CultureMee
Extraordinary Experience: SAVE Foundation
Outstanding Volunteer Project: Global Vision International
Best Work Experience Provider: Peterpans Travel Group
Consumer-voted categories:
Best Youth Travel Accommodation: Generator Hostels
Best Youth Travel Agent: StudentUniverse
Best Youth Travel Airline: Qatar Airways
Best Youth Tour Operator: Rustic Pathway
View the list of winners with entry descriptions and company logos.
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For media enquiries:
WYSE Travel Confederation
Tel: +31 (0)20 421 2800
Email: communications@wysetc.org
About the Global Youth Travel Awards
The Global Youth Travel Awards (GYTAs) formally recognise outstanding performers in fourteen fields of international youth travel and reward WYSE Travel Confederation members and other stakeholders in the youth, student and educational travel industry who make an outstanding contribution to our industry.
The GYTAs began at the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) 2011 in Barcelona with a focus on bringing to light the great experiences being provided by members of the community.
In subsequent years – 2012 in San Diego, 2013 in Sydney, 2014 in Dublin, 2015 in Cape Town and 2016 in Belgrade – the awards have evolved to include members of the wider youth travel industry and a greater number of awards.
As the prestige of the GYTAs has grown, so has the awards ceremony, which takes place at the World Youth and Student Travel Conference.
About the World Youth and Student Travel Conference:
Now in its 27th year, the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) is the leading trade event for the global youth, student and educational travel industry.
Since its inception in 1992 as the annual event of FIYTO and ISTC, youth and student travel professionals have been gathering annually to trade, network and take part in seminars and workshops.
WYSTC is organised by WYSE Travel Confederation and travels to a different destination each year to ensure that attendees get first-hand experience of the topics and trends affecting youth and student travel in the host country and region.
For more information, visit www.wystc.org
About WYSE Travel Confederation:
- The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for the youth, student and educational travel industry.
- Founded in 2006 and created from the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) – both formed after World War II to inspire young people through international travel and to help remove cultural barriers – the confederation brings together 60 years of youth travel expertise.
- Providing international travel experiences to over 30 million youth and students each year, WYSE Travel Confederation’s global community of over 600 members spans more than 120 countries from a diverse range of sectors.
- From adventure tour operators to au pair agencies, cultural exchange programmes to language schools, hop-on-hop-off buses to student insurance and youth hostels to volunteer programmes, WYSE Travel Confederation is the world’s most powerful network of youth and student travel professionals, connecting key industry players with decision makers and government officials.
- The Confederation is committed to understanding the ever-changing characteristics, motivations and needs of young travellers. By gathering, analysing and sharing important market intelligence with members, academics and government decision-makers, the unique fast-changing needs of the youth market is at the forefront of its activities as it seeks to accelerate the development of youth travel.
For more information, visit www.wysetc.org