Right before the opening of this year’s Switzerland Travel Mart (STM) in Bern, Switzerland Tourism revealed the winners of this year’s Gold Flower Award in North America: Globus Family of Brands and Air Canada Vacations. The coveted award is given out every two years and rewards innovation, a high level of professionalism and outstanding cooperation in connection with the operators' Switzerland products.
Globus and its brand Cosmos won the award for a newly created Switzerland tour with 11 UNESCO world heritage sites for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Cosmos. Also, Globus included three Swiss cities – Geneva, Lucerne and Lugano – in the offers of their Monogram brand. The award was presented to Andrew Barker, Executive Director Europe for Cosmos based in Lugano, Switzerland. "We are proud to continually work with the Globus Family of Brands to promote their Switzerland products, and the creation of the new Cosmos Anniversary tour was a milestone in our collaboration", says Alex Herrmann, Director Americas of Switzerland Tourism.
The second Gold Flower went to Air Canada Vacation for its newest creation “Cultures of Switzerland“, which offers overnights in Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Lausanne and Geneva and gives excellent insight to Switzerland's various cultures, languages and gastronomy. “While Switzerland Tourism and Air Canada Vacation have been working together for a long time, the collaboration has intensified over the last few years, and the number and scope of itineraries, hotel offers as well as activities have significantly increased”, says Mirko Capodanno, Trade Manager Central US and Canada when he presented the award to Reesa Avelino, Product Buyer with Air Canada Vacations, based in Toronto.
Switzerland Tourism also announced their new e-learning program for agents based in the U.S. and Canada. The program has been created in collaboration with Travel Agent Academy, and will be available as of August 1st, the Swiss National Day. With the new programs called the Switzerland Specialist Gold-Level and Platinum-Level, travel agents have the opportunity to become Certified Switzerland Advisors or Certified Switzerland Specialists upon graduation.
What is the Switzerland Travel Mart?
The Switzerland Travel Mart (STM) takes place every two years, every time in a different destination. It is the most important trade show to increase sales of Switzerland travel products. The STM provides a professional meeting platform for 500 tour operators and travel trade journalists from over 50 countries and 350 suppliers, who present them with the entire range of tourism products in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein.