FOR THE first time, Northern Ireland will have its best travel company recognised officially!

This year's Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards ceremony will honour the company judged the best in the business whether that be an airline, tour operator, ferry company, or any of the other range of diverse companies and organisations serving the travel industry.

The new blue riband award was announced at the launch of the 2006 Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards to be held in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday, October 13. The gala is once again sponsored by Worldspan - the market leaders in global distribution system and worldwide line services for the Travel Trade.

Speaking at the launch of the 15th Awards in the new Merchants Hotel, Waring Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland Travel News Director Jonathan Adair gave details of the new award which he predicts will become one of the most sought-after accolades in the industry.

"We have had awards of every conceivable category in the travel and tourism industry, but what has been missing is an overall title for the best company in the business - the supreme champion if you like!

"That has now been rectified and this award to be handed over at the end of the evening, will, we envisage, attract keen competition within the industry and be one of the highlights of the whole event."

He said it was fitting that details of the prestigious new award should be announced in the year in which the grand setting of the Awards ceremony - the Slieve Donard Hotel - should be even more stately and luxurious.

Now renamed the Slieve Donard Resort Hotel and Spa following a new £15 million development to be completed this summer, the hotel will shortly be re-designated four-star deluxe' standard.

And, like the much sought-after Travel Agent of the Year award, the short-list for the Best Travel Company category will be drawn up after voting by the travelling public. The top four in the number of votes cast will be assessed by an expert panel of judges, all with a comprehensive knowledge of the industry.

"These two awards will provide a fitting finale to what should be the best Awards ceremony yet," said the NI Travel News Director.

"As organisers, we are also looking forward to the splendid new facilities at the Slieve Donard, to complement the evening. All the existing rooms have been refurbished, and with 45 new rooms, and the state of the art spa and leisure facility it should take the Awards on to a new level."

Brian Staunton, Country Manager, UK and Ireland, Worldspan, sponsors of the Awards, said he was pleased to be sponsors of the event for the seventh year in a row.

"We recognise the importance of the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards and are delighted to be sponsoring them once again.

"We continue to receive tremendous support from the Northern Ireland Travel Trade and this is a way of repaying the members of the Trade in the Province for their support.

"I share Jonathan's enthusiasm for this new award for the best company in the travel industry, and I am sure there will be a tremendous interest generated in this category, particularly in the first year it is awarded."

The other major award is for Northern Ireland's Travel Agent of the Year, won last year by Clubworld Travel in Lurgan. Agencies shortlisted by the votes of their customers are assessed by mystery shoppers, both in person and by telephone.

Meanwhile, the new category for the Best Low Cost Airline well received last year, is being continued, as is the section for the Best Internet Booking System.

As in 2005, all the finalists for the Travel Student of the Year, run in conjunction with Belfast College of Further and Higher Education, will be invited to the Awards gala, and the winner will only be announced on the night.

In the local Tourism section, the continuing increase in visitors to the Province is expected to bring increased competition in categories such as for the Best Visitor Attraction and Best Tourist Information Centre.

The Award for the Best Marketing Initiative is always keenly contested, while the prestigious Northern Ireland Special Achievement Award rightly honours an individual or organisation judged to have made the biggest contribution to the Tourism Industry over the past year.

"The fact that Northern Ireland Travel News is now on sale throughout the Province and many new readers are being introduced to the paper through our website, (nitravelnews.com) will mean that there should be more votes than ever before.

"We will, as usual, be offering incentives to encourage readers, whether members of the travelling public or the Trade, to vote in the respective categories," added Jonathan Adair

Tickets for Awards will go on sale earlier than usual this year, on Monday, June 12, at 10.00 am, with rooms at the Slieve Donard Hotel being released at the same time.

Once again the Awards will be hosted by a lady who has stamped her own unmistakable professional imprint on the occasion - TV and radio personality Angela Rippon.

There will as usual be guest personalities, a top after-dinner speaker and a quality live band for dancing into the wee small hours.

A total of 25 awards will be handed over in four categories with the methods of determining winners varying from readers votes to anonymous assessments and judging panels.

In the local tourism section winners are decided by on-the-spot inspections and the deliberations of a judging panel, while in some categories, it is the votes cast by members of the public that count. In the main travel categories, the decision-makers are the principals and staff of the Province's retail travel agencies, the people who deal on a daily basis with the airlines, ferry companies, tour operators, etc