BY TIM HEDGLEY, GROUP TRAVEL EDITOR
et2holidays and Jet2.com were flying high at the 30th Northern Ireland Travel & Tourism Awards on Friday night, soaring off with no fewer than three awards at a glitzy ceremony in the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle, County Down.
Guests and VIPs across many sectors attended the annual travel industry ‘Oscars’, and Jet2.com and Jet2holidayswere one of the big winners yet again.
With 19 summer destinations announced just last week from Belfast International Airport for Summer 24, Jet2holidays is the UK’s leading tour operator to many holiday hotspots across the Mediterranean and Canary Islands and scooped the coveted Best Tour Operator to Europe award for the seventh consecutive time.
On top of that, Jet2holidays were awarded for their continued partnership approach to working with independent travel agents by scooping the accolade for Best Internet Booking System.
As if that wasn’t enough, a successful evening was capped off when Jet2.com won Best Airline to Europe for the fourth time running.
“We are enormously proud to receive this recognition from the Northern Ireland travel industry once again,” said Alan Cross, Head of Trade Sales at Jet2holidays.
“We have continued to remain wholeheartedly committed to working in partnership with independent travel agents in Northern Ireland and supporting them with everything they need.
“Agency partners told us their customers wanted to start booking Summer 24 holidays, so we responded to that demand by putting on a bumper programme from Belfast International.
“That strategy of working in partnership has clearly worked, and we are so proud and grateful that our partners have chosen us to win these awards as it shows our product and approach are a winning combination with agency partners
“After a summer which saw far too much travel chaos across the UK, we are proud not to have cancelled a single flight or holiday because of a shortage of resource, and we know this industry-leading approach will pay off when it comes to loyalty.
“The same applies for the brilliant independent travel agents out there, and we want them to know that we will continue working as hard as ever to help them capitalise on the demand that is very much out there so that they can succeed.”
The past few years have been challenging for the travel industry but Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have been widely praised and commended by customers, consumer organisations and media for their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, winning many high-profile awards and accolades in recognition of their unrivalled industry-leading customer service, including the Which? Travel Brand of the Year.
The companies promptly refunded more than £1.7bn to customers whose travel plans were affected by programme changes brought about by the pandemic.
Since the removal of travel restrictions earlier this year, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have worked tirelessly to take all customers on their long-awaited holidays and, unlike many other airlines, have not made any cancellations to their schedules because of staff shortages.
Last week, the company announced its Summer 2024 programme from Belfast, its earliest ever summer launch, to give customers the opportunity to look ahead and get a well-deserved summer break booked into the diary with the price locked in so they can spread the cost of their holiday over time.
Offering fantastic choice and flexibility to a range of destinations across the Mediterranean, customers and independent travel agents can book or travel on a summer break to popular sunshine destinations in the Canaries, Balearics, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, and Portugal, with four seaons on sale including Summer 24.
Independent travel agents can visit: trade.jet2holidays.com.
