Congratulations to the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC)for launching a new and innovative awards programme.
Now we all know, that there is a whole 'awards industry' out there. Indeed many are created with the sole purpose of promoting awareness of a sponsor's brand, with the result that consumers are increasingly sceptical about their value.
However, these awards are different. They aim to;
- provide better visitor experiences
- provide a benchmark for best practice
- encourage the continuous raising of standards
- publicly recognise and reward excellence and
- emphasise the value of the tourism sector.
They also reflect the fact that Irish tourism is maturing. They rightly focus on critical themes such as innovation, environment, design, adventure, food, culture and visitor experience. The awards also acknowledge the key role local authorities play in destination development.
The award categories include;
- Best international access initiative
- Best leisure tourism innovation
- Best business tourism innovation
- Best environmental tourism innovation
- Best local authority tourism innovation
- Best festival/event experience
- Best urban experience
- Best international marketing initiative
- Best design in tourism.
It is likely that further award categories will be added in future years. Personally, I'd like to see the inclusion of categories such as;
- Best visitor retail experience
- Best research innovation
- Best digital experience and
- Best educational experience
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