AFTER a two year hiatus, the Mena Travel Awards will be staged once again on May 2, 2012 at The Meydan Hotel Gallery in Dubai, UAE.
Dr. Sam Saker, president of the CHA (Consultants of Hospitality Administrators) International and the organizer of the travel awards said, “We decided to bring the awards back because of the demand from the industry. The last two years have been difficult for the industry with the economic crisis followed by the unrest in the region. Travel had reduced and it did not sit well us to be celebrating the laurels of some.
“But we will be back in 2012 once again in a bid to recognize excellence in Mena’s growing travel industry.”
The deadline for nominations for the awards in all 15 categories is on January 28, 2012. With a slogan “Champions of Service Quality”, the CHA team is estimating over 120,000 votes from the industry’s end users / guests in the race for excellence.
“Dr Saker adds, End users electronic voting system is the most reliable and accurate measurement device,” he added. “After all who can be a better judge of the race process? The ethics and the integrity of the awards are an integral part of the process. The diagnose methods by the PricewaterhouseCooper and CHA are uncompromising”.
This event has been formed to annually celebrate the skills, creativity, ingenuity and triumph of the Middle East and North Africa’s growing travel industry, while honouring the successful entrants in each of the industry categories and those who are considered to be the best in their specific sector.
“There is a need to recognize the significant contributions of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry”, said Dr Saker. “We would like to change the widely held perception or stereo type that the five star hotels in Middle East are equivalent, in service and product quality, to the four star hotels in Europe and North America.