CLIA TRAVEL AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARD CATEGORIES 

Small Cruise Agency of the Year – Australia / New Zealand

This award recognises the top small travel agency which has shown excellence across multiple areas including:

• Demonstrating innovation and agility in a reinvigorated cruise market
• Showing continued relevance and enhanced profile through a strategic approach to marketing cruise travel and fostering cruise travel sales
• Elevating their agents’ industry knowledge and expertise through comprehensive educational opportunities 
• Driving growth in cruise travel sales and volume

For the purposes of this award a small travel agency is an agency that operates under one brand out of a single location.

Large Cruise Agency of the Year – Australasia

This award recognises the top large cruise agency which has shown excellence across multiple areas including:

• Demonstrating innovation and agility in their approach to promoting cruise travel online and growing cruise travel sales by leveraging the technologies available
• Showing continued relevance and enhanced profile through a strategic approach to marketing cruise travel and fostering cruise travel sales
• Elevating their agents’ industry knowledge and expertise through comprehensive educational opportunities 
• Driving growth in cruise travel sales and volume

For the purposes of this award a large travel agency is an agency that operates under more than one brand or out of multiple locations. It does not include retail group networks or consortia.

Online Cruise Agency of the Year – Australasia

This award recognises the top online travel agency which has shown excellence across multiple areas including:

• Demonstrating innovation and agility in their approach to promoting cruise travel online and growing cruise travel sales by leveraging the technologies available
• Showing continued relevance and enhanced profile through a strategic approach to marketing cruise travel and fostering cruise travel sales
• Elevating their agents’ industry knowledge and expertise through comprehensive educational opportunities 
• Driving a reinvigoration of cruise travel sales and volume

 CLIA TRAVEL AGENT/BROKER AWARD CATEGORIES 

Nominations for the CLIA Travel Agent/Individual award categories are open to CLIA cruise lines, peer or self-nomination with justification required. CLIA Australasia will then identify the finalists based on nomination criteria as well as CLIA training & engagement.

Cruise Consultant of the Year – Australia / New Zealand 

This award recognises a cruise consultant who has demonstrated success in their field, shows strength and determination in a reinvigorated cruise market, has a proven sales focus, shows dedication to learning and self-improvement, and has a clear demonstration of industry engagement. For the purpose of this award, a consultant is considered an employee of a retail Travel Agency who may work either inside a store location, from home, or in a hybrid role.

Home-Based Mobile Cruise Agent - Australia

This award recognises an Australian home-based mobile consultant who has demonstrated success in their field, shows strength and determination in a reinvigorated cruise market, has a proven sales focus, shows dedication to learning and self-improvement, and has a clear demonstration of industry engagement. For the purpose of this award, a home-based mobile agent is an independent operator or sole proprietor responsible for marketing to their own database. It does not include an employee of a registered retail Travel Agency who works from home.

Broker of the Year –  New Zealand

This award recognises a New Zealand broker who has demonstrated success in their field, shows strength and determination in a reinvigorated cruise market, has a proven sales focus, shows dedication to learning and self-improvement, and has a clear demonstration of industry engagement. For the purpose of this award, a broker is an independent operator or sole proprietor responsible for marketing to their own database. It does not include an employee of a registered retail Travel Agency who works from home.

Rising Star – Australia / New Zealand

This award recognises a consultant who has been selling cruise for less than three years and who has shown tremendous achievements in this time. Finalists will be asked to provide details on how they have developed their skills and their drive for excellence - describing significant achievements and accomplishments, along with future aspirations within the travel industry and what steps they are taking to achieve them. CLIA Certification points, training and engagement over the previous three-year period will be considered in determining finalists.

Cruise Champion Australasia

This award recognises an individual who actively champions on behalf of the cruise industry – a travel trade member who embodies CLIA’s mission of educating, advocating and promoting on behalf of the cruise industry in ways that extend beyond a sales focus and into the wider interests of the Australasian cruise community. 

 CLIA PROMOTION AWARD CATEGORIES 

The following marketing/promotional award categories are open to peer or self-nomination with justification required.

Agency / Agent Cruise Promotion of the Year Australia / New Zealand

Submissions must be based on consumer cruise promotions undertaken by a travel agency or an individual travel agent during 2023 that feature CLIA Cruise Line Member product and will be judged on the overall strategy and success of a specific cruise campaign. Nominations will be judged by an independent panel based on the information provided with the submission, according to the following criteria:

• Objectives of the campaign
• Overall planning
• Target market
• Form of promotion
• Level of investment
• Brand awareness achieved
• Duration of campaign
• Results and how they were assessed
• Supporting material

Network Cruise Promotion of the Year Australasia

Submissions must be based on consumer cruise promotions undertaken by a travel agency network or cluster of multiple stores during 2023 that feature CLIA Cruise Line Member product and will be judged on the overall strategy and success of a specific cruise campaign. Nominations will be judged by an independent panel based on the information provided with the submission, according to the following criteria:

• Objectives of the campaign
• Overall planning
• Target market
• Form of promotion
• Level of investment
• Brand awareness achieved
• Duration of campaign
• Results and how they were assessed
• Supporting material

Cruise Month Promotion of the Year Australasia

Submissions must be based on a consumer promotion by any travel agency or individual member of CLIA during the 2023 Cruise Month campaign. Nominations will be judged by an independent panel based on the information provided with the submission, according to the following criteria:

• Creativity and originality of the campaign
• Use of various promotional channels including traditional and digital/social media
• Effort to promote cruising as a holiday choice
• Effort to stimulate cruise bookings
• Use of official CLIA Cruise Month branding (logos, toolkit materials, theme weeks and official hashtags)

 CLIA CRUISE LINE CHAMPION AWARD 

This category, introduced last year, is open to nomination from CLIA Travel Agents as well as self or peer nomination. CLIA Australasia will identify the finalists based on the nomination criteria and information submitted, and finalists will be required to provide a submission for the judges explaining how they have excelled within the context of the award criteria.

Cruise Line Champion – This award recognises an individual cruise line sales representative who has actively championed the Australasian cruise community and provided exceptional support for CLIA’s travel agent membership.

 CLIA MEDIA AWARD 

The media award is open for self-nomination.

Media Award – This award recognises the high standards of cruise journalism in print, broadcast or digital media across Australia and New Zealand. Submission of stories, videos, podcasts or broadcasts that showcase cruising will be accepted from freelance and staff journalists from mainstream, online and trade media outlets. To be eligible for this award category, the article or broadcast will:

• Showcase the cruising experience or the innovations of the cruise industry
• Demonstrate creativity and originality
• Comprise at least 800 words (in the case of print/written)
• Have been published/released during 2023
• Feature a CLIA cruise line or river cruise line, in the case of content created from a famil or hosted travel. 

*Only one submission per journalist will be accepted.