NTIA ‘18 plans revealed

AFTA has revealed details of next year’s National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA), including changes to the nomination, voting and judging processes.

The 2018 awards will be announced on Sat 21 Jul at a gala dinner to be held at the International Convention Centre Sydney, with Qantas again supporting as major sponsor and providing its Mascot Campus as the venue for judging.

AFTA says it will change next year’s NTIA to ensure the integrity of the award process and improve on the “fair and equitable selection of finalists”.

Nominees in selected categories will now be required to answer a range of questions in order to accept their nomination.

The answers will be marked by a University level marker to determine finalists, meaning the majority of judged categories will not involve voting.

“As we follow a continuous improvement mantra for NTIA, adding a two-step process and a next level of validation and business metrics, to determine the best of the best in the various categories will greatly enhance the value of the process for participants,” said AFTA chief executive Jayson Westbury.

Next year will also involve a new category for the home-based consultant model.

Nominations for NTIA 2018 open 22 Jan, with submissions due 02 Mar, voting in Mar and finalists to be announced 03 May.