Ja shines at New York Travvy Awards

Destination Jamaica shone brightly on Wednesday night when the island was the recipient of four travel awards, which were presented to the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) by the Travvy Awards in recognition of the island's high standards of excellence in the industry.

Jamaica zoomed into the regional and international spotlight for capturing four gold awards - Best Honeymoon Destination in the Caribbean and the Bahamas; Best Culinary Destination in the Caribbean and the Bahamas; Best Tourism Board in the Caribbean and the Bahamas; and Best Tourism Board Overall (Worldwide).

The Travvy Awards is now in its third year and the annual black-tie gala event pays tribute to travel industry partners who deliver superlative products and services in the continuously changing travel environment.

The awards are based on votes from 39,000 travel agents across the United States who sell vacation packages each year to millions of consumers. This year's awards were held at Gotham Hall near Herald Square in New York City.

Very elated

Jamaica's full contingent of proud sales specialists who represent the Northeastern US region for the JTB - Marcia Sinclair, Christopher Dobson and Kenton Senior, as well as the JTB's deputy director of tourism for the Americas Donnie Dawson - were all in attendance to receive the awards.

"We are very elated that retail travel agents have voted us not just the best tourist board in the Caribbean, but also the best tourist board overall," Dawson beamed. "This is a true testament to the hard work, the dedicated passion, and the professional experience that the members of our sales team put in within the travel-agent communities every single day."