First North West edition brings 250 industry guests together at Liverpool’s Titanic Hotel as leading travel agents and agencies receive regional honours. The inaugural Travel Agent Awards North West has recognised some of the region’s leading travel professionals and agencies at a gala ceremony held at the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool.
Around 250 guests attended the event, which was held in partnership with Newmarket Holidays, as travel businesses and professionals gathered to celebrate achievements across the North West travel sector.
Comedian and actor Justin Moorhouse hosted the ceremony, which featured 14 award categories covering different areas of the travel agency industry.
Regional travel professionals take home top honours
Among the evening’s winners was Emma Buckle of Designer Travel, who was named Luxury Travel Curator of the Year.
Jon Burton of Fairclough Travel received the award for Cruise Agent of the Year, while Kathryn Almond of The Travel Nuts was recognised as New Agent of the Year.
One of the evening’s multiple winners was Sarah Meadowcroft of Global Travel & Cruise, who took home both the Touring & Adventure Agent of the Year and Travel Agent of the Year awards.
Other categories included High Street Agency of the Year and Homeworking Agent of the Year, highlighting the range of business models and specialist roles contributing to the regional travel industry.
Travel agents recognised for customer support
Speaking at the ceremony, Travel Gossip CEO Bruce Martin highlighted the role travel agents played during recent air traffic control disruption.
He said the challenges demonstrated the importance of travel professionals who support customers when journeys are disrupted, including rearranging travel plans, providing reassurance and responding to customers outside normal working hours.
Martin also described the inaugural North West awards as an opportunity to recognise the contribution of agents and agencies across the region.
“The standard of entries was incredibly high,” he said, adding that the awards recognised the “hard work, passion and dedication” of professionals across the industry.
He also thanked headline partner Newmarket Holidays and the event’s sponsors for supporting the ceremony.
Travel Agent Awards expand to new region in 2027
The Liverpool ceremony marked the conclusion of this year’s regional Travel Agent Awards programme.
Previous ceremonies were held in Bristol, recognising travel professionals across the South West and Wales, and Newcastle, where the North East awards took place.
The regional awards programme is set to expand again in 2027, with Travel Gossip planning its first Midlands edition.
The Midlands ceremony is scheduled as a black-tie event in February 2027, providing another opportunity for travel agents and agencies to receive recognition for their work across the industry.
The expansion reflects the growing regional focus of the awards programme, which aims to spotlight travel professionals beyond the industry’s traditional national events.
With the North West edition now concluded, attention will turn to the next round of regional celebrations and the continued recognition of travel businesses across the UK.