The winners of the 2017 British Youth Travel Awards.
UK – The British Youth Travel Awards are co-ordinated by BETA, reward and celebrate the excellent work and high standards that our members and industry stakeholders demonstrate through their work year on year.
From creating new and innovative products and programmes for young travellers, to outstanding examples of customer service and responding to the needs of this important sector – a sector that is worth over £22.3 billion to the UK economy per annum.
Having grown from a single category back in 2007, these awards have matured in stature and importance. For many these awards represent something special, something to work towards and this is demonstrated in the high quality of entries received.
Emma English, BETA's Executive Director said "The 2017 competition kicked off with a bang and in celebration of our 10th anniversary by introducing a new look and brand identity, new website and a new online submissions process making it even easier for businesses to enter.
The result being that the number of entries in the 2017 competition grew by 41% – a competition record! and our judges had a tough time in choosing who scooped the top spots, with some categories being separated by 0.5 of a point!"
The judging panel are made up of a group of industry experts, each dedicating their time to meeting, debating and scoring each submission.
Clare Mullin, Marketing Director of VisitBritain and BYTA Judge said "It was great to be part of the judging panel for the 10th anniversary British Youth Travel Awards. Youth travel is such a vibrant and important sector for destinations to capture. I was particularly impressed with the marketing category and looking at the innovative ways that people are engaging with their audience on budgets large and small!"
Graham McKenzie, Managing Director of Travelmole.com and BYTA Judge said "Having judged these awards for a number of years not only were there more than ever before, but the quality and standard of this year's submissions was excellent. The demonstration of new and innovative ways in which businesses are engaging their audience and developing their brands is very impressive."
The award winners in each category shown here as follows:
Best Accommodation 2017: St Christopher's Inns, London Bridge
Silver Award: Hatters at Hilton Chambers
Bronze Award: Cohort Hostel
Best Educational Product 2017: World Nomads Travel Scholarships
Silver Award: Oxford Royale Academy
Bronze Award: b
Best Leisure Product 2017: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
Silver Award: BBC Tours at MediaCityUK
Bronze Award: ArcelorMittal Orbit
Best Support Service 2017: NST Travel Group
Silver Award: Vagaband
Bronze Award: GTi Travel Group
Best Use of Social/Mobile Media 2017: Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
Silver Award: St Christopher's Inns
Bronze Award: London Nest
Best Volunteering Organisation 2017: Pod Volunteer
Silver Award: Kaya Responsible Travel
Bronze Award: Madventure International
Best Marketing 2017: Busabout – The Best Job in the World
Silver Award: YHA (England & Wales) – 48 hours of freedom
Bronze Award: Londonist DMC – Find a place you can call home
Rising Star 2017: Rebecca O'Hare, Campus Living Villages
Silver Award: Yogesh Mistry, Anglo Educational Services
Bronze Award: Harry Spear, Caribbean Elective
Best Customer Service Award 2017: LILA* Liverpool
Silver Award: Smaller Earth – Camp Leaders
Bronze Award: WST Travel
People's Choice 2017: Hostelworld
Silver Award: Camp America
Bronze Award: LILA* Liverpool
Best UK Youth Destination 2017: Edinburgh
Silver Award: Oxford
Bronze Award: Chester
Best International Youth Destination 2017: Australia
Silver Award: Germany
Bronze Award: France
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She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
