Luxury agents and brands recognised at Aspire Awards 2022

Aspire recognised top agents and brands from the luxury travel sector at a ceremony in London on Monday night.

The Aspire Awards were held at Pan Pacific London in partnership with headline sponsor Celebrity Cruises, with more than 350 people in attendance.

Homeworking agency Designer Travel was the big winner of the night, clinching Independent Agency of the Year – Homeworking (Large) and Innovation of the Year for its Cruise Designers programme.

The agency’s managing director Amanda Matthews also won awards for Aspire Supporter of the Year and Contribution to Luxury – the latter of which was also awarded to Abercrombie and Kent founder Geoffrey Kent.

Matthews said: "We have never won an Aspire award before so we had zero expectation to win any tonight so I am absolutely in shock that we’ve taken home so many. It is very rare for me to be speechless but that was honestly how I was after we got called up a fourth time – I was almost embarrassed! It is so lovely to have been recognised."

She added: "I think we won because we have almost doubled our revenue since Covid started – which is all due to our amazing team of people and our incredible homeworkers – and we strengthened our management team while other companies weren’t doing so. We have a 'can do, want to do' attitude and we are always trying to do more for both our homeworkers and our clients."

Jennifer Lonergan of The Luxury Traveller picked up the gong for Luxury Seller of the Year, while Swords Travel won Independent Agency of the Year – Homeworking (Small) and Select World Travel was recognised as Independent Agency of the Year – High Street.

The Rising Star of the Year award went to Michael Davies, who set up his York-based agency Heritage Collection Travel during the pandemic.

In the supplier categories, both Silversea Cruises and Carrier picked up two awards. Silversea Cruises won Luxury Ocean Cruise Line of the year and Luxury Expedition Brand of the Year, while Carrier was awarded Luxury Tour Operator of the Year and Luxury Team of the Year – titles it retained for a third year running.

Elsewhere, One&Only Resorts won Luxury Hotel Brand of the Year, ANA – All Nippon Airways was recognised for Luxury Air Service of the Year and Quark Expeditions was awarded Luxury Adventure Brand of the Year.

Sustainability remained a key focus in both the agent and supplier categories, with Amy Welfare of AW Private Travel awarded Sustainability Champion of the Year and Ponant recognised for Sustainable Practice of the Year.

“It’s an honour to be here with you all for a night honouring the greats of luxury travel, the unsung heroes and those new and emerging businesses that have risen out of the pandemic,” said Aspire editor Hollie-Rae Brader.

“I want to personally thank you all for the support you’ve shown Aspire over the years, and particularly post-pandemic. We love working with our luxury partners and tonight is all about celebrating you.”

Aspire Awards 2022: Winners

Contribution to Luxury (Agent) - Amanda Matthews, Designer Travel

Contribution to Luxury (Supplier) - Geoffrey Kent, Abercrombie & Kent

Concierge Agency of the Year - Ten Lifestyle Group

Independent Agency of the Year - Homeworking (Small) – Swords Travel

Independent Agency of the Year - Homeworking (Large) - Designer Travel

Independent Agency of the Year - High Street - Select World Travel

Sustainability Champion of the Year - Amy Welfare, AW Private Travel

Innovation of the Year - Designer Travel

Luxury Seller of the Year - Jennifer Lonergan, The Luxury Traveller

Rising Star of the Year - Michael Davies, Heritage Collection Travel

Aspire Supporter of the Year (Agent) - Amanda Matthews, Designer Travel

Aspire Supporter of the Year (Supplier) - Raj Mistry, Carrier

Luxury Ocean Cruise Line of the Year - Silversea Cruises

Luxury River Cruise Line of the Year – AmaWaterways

Luxury Expedition Brand of the Year - Silversea Cruises

Luxury Adventure Brand of the Year - Quark Expeditions

Sustainable Practice of the Year – Ponant

Premium Tour Operator of the Year - If Only

Luxury Tour Operator of the Year - Carrier

Luxury Tourist Board of the Year - ENIT - The Italian Government Tourist Board

Luxury Air Service of the Year – ANA – All Nippon Airways

Specialist Luxury Tour Operator of the Year - InsideTravel Group

Luxury Hotel Brand of the Year - One&Only Resorts

Sales Representation Company of the Year - Sarah Falconer Ltd

Luxury Team of the Year - Carrier