Canadian agents were front and centre at the first-ever Saint Lucia Tourism Authority’s Global Piton Awards.

Honouring the best-selling Saint Lucia travel agents in the world, The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) hosted its first-ever Global Piton Awards from June 20 - 24th, 2019 for top-producing Saint Lucia Expert travel agents from Canada, The United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The weekend culminated with an award ceremony gala hosted by Sandals Grande St. Lucian Resort & Spa to honour agents for their contributions to Saint Lucia's record-breaking year in tourism.

The 2019 Global Piton Awards honour travel advisors who booked more than 300 room nights between March 2018 and March 2019, measured in room nights booked through the Saint Lucia Expert (SLEx) Program created in partnership with Recommend magazine. The SLEx program is a comprehensive, free membership program and educational resource for travel advisors interested in selling Saint Lucia to their clients at an expert level of knowledge.

“We are excited to honour our valued travel agent partners this month at the Global Piton Awards,” said Rod Hanna, Director of Sales, Saint Lucia Tourism Authority. “Travel advisors remain at the forefront of our industry and the Global Piton Awards is our way to honour Canada's top producing agents.”

The top 31 winners were honored with the prestigious award for recording the highest number of room night bookings last year through the SLEx program. The recipients include 15 winners from the United States, six winners from Canada and 10 winners from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Winners include:

CANADIAN WINNERS

Shannon Blackburn, K Benn Travel Inc. (Toronto, ON)

Ingrid Godman, Ingrid’s Travel (Pickering, ON)

Jen Hardy, Nexion Canada (London, ON)

Ryan Smith, Robert Q Travel (London, ON)

Reza Salkhordeh, Marlin Travel (Mississaugua, ON)

Kathie Ashby, Ashby’s Travel part of The Travel Agent Next Door (Perth, ON)

U.S. WINNERS

Kerri Brewster, Escapes Unlimited AZ (Scottsdale, AZ)

Karen Cavadas, Twinsburg Travel (Twinsburg, OH)

Jennifer Doncsecz, VIP Vacations inc. (Bethlehem, PA)

Stacy Evos, A Girl’s Gotta Go (Cambridge, MA)

Nancy Finn, My Island Getaways (Milwaukee, WI)

Kim Goldstein, Journeys Inc. (Richmond, VA)

Mark Hennigan, Dreamers Travel (Hampstead, MD)

Veronica Kastukevich, Custom Travel (Wallingford, CT)

Leslie Kepplinger, Trips Ahoy (Portage, MI)

Christen Perry, Classic Travel Connection (Hoover, AL)

Steve Simmons, Honeymoons Inc. (Buford, GA)

Sally Smith, TravelSmiths (Point Pleasant, NJ)

Lynn Thomas, Alpha World Travel (Cary, NC)

Mitch Toren, Trip Guy (Richboro, PA)

Tom Varghese, Travel Tom (Rockville, MD)

U.K. WINNERS

Lucy Armstrong, British Airways Holidays (Hebburn)

Emma Bailey, Blue Bay Travel (Newcastle)

Helen Baker, CaribTours (Hempstead)

Max Corbo, Newmont Travel - Hotels of the Caribbean (London)

Lindsey Hayes, British Airways Holidays (Durham)

Darren Liddle, British Airways Holidays (North Shields)

Caroline Moore, Let’s Go 2 (Tangley Grove)

Sheila Sparkes, Holidays Please (Suffolk)

Nicki Tennant, British Airways Holidays (Northumberland)

Karen Thorton, Tropic Breeze (Plymouth)

While in Saint Lucia, Global Piton Award winners explored the island to the fullest, hosted in style by several hotels, and participate in enriching learning sessions. The Honourable Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee hosted a breakfast to honor the recipients, complete with a destination update. The SLTA hosted a Social Media Marketing seminar; and attendees learned about philanthropic opportunities and corporate social responsibility projects for their clients, including an ongoing, literacy-enriching program in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

The Award winners were treated to an island party and day of pampering at Pigeon Island with Spa Teasers sponsored by The Landings, Windjammer Landing, Royalton St. Lucia and BodyHoliday. Additional activities included a Gros Islet street party experience, breakfast at Tapas on the Bay; ziplining; shopping at Howelton Estates, and a sailing excursion.

For more information about becoming a SLEx travel advisor, go to http://edu.recommend.com/saintlucia. To explore Saint Lucia’s offerings for consumers and the travel trade can visit: www.stlucia.org