This initiative adds to the already popular and respected awards run by TTG Media: TTG Travel Awards and TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies, this time searching specifically for those who operate in the luxury sector.

The ttgluxury Travel Awards 2018 will be announced at a spectacular lunchtime event at Rosewood London on February 9, where the cream of the luxury travel sector will gather to celebrate the winners.

There will be two categories for agents – the Luxury Travel Designer of the Year, to recognise individuals who shine, and Luxury Travel Store, which will search for the nation’s best retail outlet. Potential finalists for these categories must enter themselves online and will then be judged by a panel of luxury suppliers.

The categories other luxury travel companies can enter are Luxury Operator, Specialist Luxury Operator, Ultra-luxury Cruise Line, Premium Cruise Line, Premium Airline, Luxury Hotel Company Large group (more than 25 hotels), Luxury Hotel Company Small group (less than 25 hotels), Luxury Hotel (individual/independent) and Best New Hotel (opened in 2017).

Potential finalists for these categories must enter online and will then be rated by a hand-selected group of agents known to have a track record working in luxury travel; the Best New Hotel winner will also be narrowed down by a panel of leading hotel and travel experts in the media.

There will also be a Contribution to Luxury Travel award given out on the day to an individual selected by ttgluxury as having made the biggest impact in the sector.

“According to Amadeus’s Shaping the Future of Luxury Travel report, ‘we have entered a new age of luxury travel, where luxury is curated, real-time and experience-led’, which means anyone in this business has to really show customers they can deliver on these levels. These awards will find the people who do just that,” said ttgluxury editor April Hutchinson.