During the intimate Global Piton Awards evening gala this past week, which took place at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian, the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority applauded top-producing travel advisors—those who shine when it comes to booking this stunning Caribbean destination.
Travel advisors, donning their best 1920s-style fashion for this year’s Great Gatsby-themed gala, had the opportunity to mingle with on-island tourism industry officials, dine on delicious fare, listen to dazzling musicians, dance the night away and, of course, be applauded for their hard work in selling the destination.
Attending the gala was Ernest Hilaire, Saint Lucia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, who thanked the advisors for their hard work and told them Saint Lucia—which has been named the Leading Honeymoon and Adventure Tourism Destination 2024 by the World Travel Awards—wouldn’t have the visitor numbers it has today without them. He also emphasized that 2019 visitor numbers—which had been their best year—was surpassed by 2023 visitor numbers, and that’s due to travel advisors’ bookings.
And the Saint Lucia Global Piton Awards Go To…
The awards are given to travel advisors throughout Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
Ranging from the top-producing agency to the top-selling individual travel advisor, here are the U.S. winners: Lynn Thomas of Alpha World Travel; Nancy Finn of My Island Getaways; Steve Simmons of Honeymons Inc.; Kerri Logan-Shirk of Sunlover Travel; Linda Dancer of Honeymoons Inc.; Mark Hennigan of Dreamers Travel; Mitch Toren of Tripguy Travel; Belvin Baldwin II of Showtime Travel; Christen Perry of Classic Travel Connection; Carlie Marie Finch of Travel Anywhere; Jennifer Doncsecz of VIP Vacations Inc.; Vicki Sneed of Vicki’s Travel Designs; Karen Cavadas of Twinsburg Travel; Tahryn Nicastro of Shores to Sea Vacations; and Georgiann Jaworskyj of Custom Travel Services.
Canada winners: Nancy Miklian of New Wave Travel; Kim Hartlen of Kim Hartlen Travel-TPI; Lois Barbour of Travel Time Agency; Barbara Scrocco of Travel Only; and Lori Riddell of LUXE Destination Weddings.
In addition to the evening gala, the group of advisors got a hard hat tour of Secrets St. Lucia, with a soft opening scheduled for Nov. 1; and explored the beautiful Howelton Estate. We’ll have the 411 on both of these in Recommend’s September 2024 issue.
For more on Saint Lucia, visit stlucia.org. To become a certified Saint Lucia expert, visit slex.recommend.com.
