Saint Lucia Tourism Authority Recognizes Top-Selling Agents
by Jessica Montevago
U.S. Global Piton Award Winners.
The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority celebrated the first annual Global Piton Awards last weekend, which recognize top-producing travel advisors from around the world.
Awards were given to the top-producing Saint Lucia Expert travel agents from the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Ireland. Advisors celebrated over four days, with a sailing excursion and other activities, and culminated with an award ceremony where winners were honored for their contributions to Saint Lucia tourism in a record-breaking year.
The 2019 Global Piton Awards were given to travel advisors who booked more than 300 room nights between March 2018 and March 2019, measured in room nights booked through the Saint Lucia Expert (SLEx) Program, a free membership program and educational resource for travel advisors, in partnership with Recommend.
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“We are incredibly excited to honor our valued travel advisor partners this month at the Global Piton Awards,” said Kelly Fontenelle-Clarke, director of marketing for Saint Lucia Tourism Authority. “Travel advisors remain an integral part of our industry and the awards, along with the island immersion, honor the world’s best sellers while showing our appreciation for keeping Saint Lucia front-and-center when recommending the destination to their clients.”
The top 31 winners awarded recorded the highest number of room night bookings last year through the SLEx program. Award winners were treated to an island party and a day of pampering at Pigeon Island with Spa Teasers sponsored by The Landings, Windjammer Landing, Royalton St. Lucia, and BodyHoliday.
U.S. winners are:
Kerri Brewster, Escapes Unlimited AZ (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Karen Cavadas, Twinsburg Travel (Twinsburg, Ohio)
Jennifer Doncsecz, VIP Vacations inc. (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
Stacy Evos, A Girl’s Gotta Go (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Nancy Finn, My Island Getaways (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Kim Goldstein, Journeys Inc. (Richmond, Virginia)
Mark Hennigan, Dreamers Travel (Hampstead, Maryland)
Veronica Kastukevich, Custom Travel (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Leslie Kepplinger, Trips Ahoy (Portage, Michigan)
Christen Perry, Classic Travel Connection (Hoover, Alaska)
Steve Simmons, Honeymoons Inc. (Buford, Georgia)
Sally Smith, TravelSmiths (Point Pleasant, New Jersey)
Lynn Thomas, Alpha World Travel (Cary, North Carolina)
Mitch Toren, Trip Guy (Richboro, Pennsylvania)
Tom Varghese, Travel Tom (Rockville, Maryland)
Canadian winners are:
Kathie Ashby, Ashby’s Travel, part of The Travel Agent Next Door (Perth, Ontario)
Shannon Blackburn, K Benn Travel Inc. (Toronto, Ontario)
Ingrid Godman, Ingrid’s Travel (Pickering, Ontario)
Jen Hardy, Nexion Canada (London, Ontario)
Ryan Smith, Robert Q Travel (London, Ontario)
Reza Salkhordeh, Marlin Travel (Mississaugua, Ontario)
