Event Recap: 2020 Travvy Awards

The sixth-annual Travvy Awards took place Wednesday, February 12 at Gotham Hall in NYC. The setting is beautiful for the more than 300 people attending from across the travel industry. The buzz of excited voices carried throughout the reception bar upstairs, and spills down to the main room where everyone greeted each other with anticipation of an exhilarating event.

The evening kicked off with a welcome from Bob Sullivan, president of NorthStar Travel Group, who gave a huge shout out to Mark Murphy, congratulating him for the brands he had built and joking that the only way he could get an invite to this event was to buy Mark’s company.

I was excited to attend representing VAX VacationAccess and equally excited to see old industry friends and meet so many new advisors and suppliers. I was elated to take the stage to accept our awards, which are voted on by travel agents.

VAX VacationAccess Wins:

• Best Travel Agent Reservation System – GOLD
• Best Travel Planning Technology – GOLD
• Best Travel Technology Provider – SILVER
  • Interesting to note that we WON this award at the Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards in December of this past year.

To wrap up the presentation portion of the evening Kevin Froemming of Playa Hotels & Resorts was presented with the Executive of the Year Award. He provided a brief but impactful speech about how he learned much from his time working with Bill LaMacchia, Sr. (the founder of The Mark Travel Corporation).

Thanks again to all the agents that provide their loyalty, support and feedback to help us achieve these fantastic awards!

About the Author

Beth Kitzman is the business development manager for Trisept Solutions' Agency Channel for VAX VacationAccess. Beth focuses on nurturing business relationships and finding exciting, unique ways for VAX to support travel agencies. With over 20 years of experience in the travel industry, beginning with Walt Disney World then working for airlines and now focusing on travel technology, Beth loves using her education degree to find ways to educate and empower travel agents to grow their leisure travel business.