Global Youth Travel Awards 2016

Leaders of the the youth, student and educational travel industry celebrated at the Global Youth Travel Awards 2016.

The winners of the Global Youth Travel Awards 2016 in partnership with Destination Canada and International Experience Canada, were announced in Belgrade, Serbia last evening during the concluding event of this year’s World Youth and Student Travel Conference – WYSTC 2016.

This year drew an impressive number of nominations and votes and the award categories are a celebration of the outstanding performers of the youth, student and educational travel industry and act as a benchmark for excellence within this important travel sector.

David Chapman, Director General of WYSE Travel Confederation, whom coordinate the awards, said: “The calibre of nominations improves every year across all award categories and is once again truly outstanding. Despite the unsettled nature of travel as a whole, with terrorism and political unrest halting tourism in some areas, youth travel remains resilient. Not only do young people continue to travel during difficult times, but the agencies and organisations helping them also continue to offer new products and services that meet the needs of young travellers."

This year’s winners are:

Voted Awards

Outstanding Volunteer Project – Greenheart Travel

Best Work Experience Provider – Austern International

Best Education Abroad provider – Sentio

Extraordinary Experience – Alliance Abroad Group

Best Social Responsibility Initiative – STA Travel

Best Green Accommodation Initiative – YHA New Zealand

Best Youth Travel Blogger – iamella.com

Best Marketing Campaign – STA Travel

Best Travel Technology Product – Tipi

Consumer Voted Awards

Best Youth Travel Agent – StudentUniverse

Best Youth Travel Airline – Emirates

Best Youth Tour Operator – I Love Travel

Best Youth Travel Accommodation – Generator

Nominations for the Global Youth Travel Awards 2017 will open next year.

For more information, visit awards.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 500 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 or follow the organisation on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn