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INTRODUCTION

If you’re like most people in the industry, you’re very busy right now. But I want to suggest that you put aside a few minutes to review work by your peers who have earned Travel Weekly Magellan Awards in recognition of their extraordinary promotional campaigns and travel product design. 

And in this 15th edition of the Magellans, the entrants’ collective desire to exceed consumers’ expectations has never been more evident.

The results are, simply put, inspiring and stimulating. It’s hard to overstate how wowed the judges were this year as they reviewed a record number of entries. Whether created by a multibillion-dollar cruise line or a home travel advisor, the submissions that made it to the winners’ circle are a reflection of how the travel industry manages to outdo itself year after year.

The hard work and creativity that goes into a winning Magellan entry is impressive indeed. Designers reimagined interiors, copywriters assembled creative promotions and all the winners seemed to lift their vision into new territory.

Who is represented? Tour operators, travel advisors, cruise lines, air carriers, hoteliers, destinations, car rental companies, travel insurers and the tech companies that serve the travel industry have once again reexamined every aspect of how they communicate to — and serve — their guests. From concept to executions, all the winners achieved a level of excellence that rose far above their competitors.

And that’s what the Travel Weekly Magellan Awards recognizes. Gold and silver Magellans are given to honor the very best examples of design and promotion that balance the exact right words, materials, shapes, colors and technology to create an impression that moves and inspires travelers.

Magellan winners are those marketers and designers whose exploration of travel’s possibilities rings true and stands out. Their carefully crafted communications, whether spoken, printed, posted, broadcast, streamed or tweeted, expand the possibilities of what travel can mean.

The art of conceiving, composing and distributing inspiration on the sales and marketing side and the alchemical process that transforms abstract creative thought into physical beauty on the design side is reflected in what you’re about to review. Enjoy your tour of the best of the best.

Arnie Weissmann
Executive Vice President and Editor in Chief, Travel Weekly

METHODOLOGY

The Magellan Awards honor the best in travel and applaud the talented travel professionals behind it all, from design to marketing to services.

This year’s awards recognize a extensive range of industry segments: Airlines and Airports; Cruise Lines; Destinations; Ground Transportation; Hospitality; Online Travel Services; Tour Operators; and Travel Advisors and Agencies.

Entrants submitted various multimedia elements, such as photos and videos; print materials; and websites, and a panel of 27 highly respected travel industry authorities judged the entries (none judged categories in which they work or have worked).

Entries do not compete with one another but are instead judged against a standard of excellence based on the long experience of Travel Weekly and considering the category entered.

Judges were asked, for example, to consider how relevant the elements of an entry were to its sector of the travel industry, how well designed the supporting elements were and whether they found the entry “appealing or intriguing.”

Those entries scoring between 90 and 100 were given gold Magellans. These entries were considered by the judges to be clearly excellent and the best of the best. Entries scoring from 80 to 90 were deemed outstanding work and were awarded silver Magellans. 

Therefore, there might be multiple gold or silver winners in a particular category, or only silver winners, or no winners at all.

MEET THE JUDGES

Travel Weekly is honored to have such an illustrious panel of respected industry experts volunteer their time to participate as judges and recognize the efforts of the 2023 Magellan winners.

Richard Bangs

Bangs is a pioneer in travel, digital media, e-commerce and other frontiers. He produced the first internet travel site (www.mtsobek.com), the first travel CD -ROM (The Adventure Disc) and the first virtual expeditions (www.terra-quest.com). His list of contributions to the world of travel and media includes publishing more than 1,000 articles, 19 books, producing numerous documentaries and lecturing at notable venues. He is host and executive producer of Richard Bangs’ Quests for PBS.

Jean-Claude Baumgarten

An influential leader in global tourism for more than 50 years, Baumgarten has held executive positions at Air France and World Travel & Tourism Council, where he was a CEO and Vice Chairman. Baumgarten established CREWE Associates in 2011, where he is currently Chairman and CEO. The company provides consulting services to private companies and governments.

Bruce Beckham

Bruce Beckham is a consultant in the travel and tourism industry specializing in travel industry philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.  He is the Executive Advisor and the former Executive Director and CEO of the travel industry’s award winning, non-profit organization, Tourism Cares. He is a Certified Tourism Professional, the former owner of a travel agency and packaged tour company, and a former president of NTA.

Bill Carroll, PhD

Carroll is the CEO of Marketing Economics, a consulting firm specializing in travel industry marketing, pricing, distribution, and revenue management. His clients have included Expedia, Vail Resorts, Leading Hotels of the World, LVMH, Hilton International Hotels, Wyndham Hotel Group, Priceline and TripAdvisor. As a retired professor, Carroll continues to offer online courses through e Cornell, has authored numerous articles and reports and has held a variety of senior positions in the travel industry. 

Harry Dalgaard

Dalgaard has 40 years of experience in different areas of the travel industry, including airline, retail travel agency and tour operator. He is the Founder and President of international tour operator Avanti Destinations, Inc. He has held several positions at the USTOA, where currently he is Vice Chairman. He also has been on the advisory boards of the German National Tourist Office and Atout France for many years. 

Kathy Fitzpatrick

A travel executive for more than three decades, Kathy’s experience extends to leisure and corporate sales, Merger and Acquisitions and distribution.  Kathy’s roles have included President of Travelport for the Americas and President of VAX Vacation Access.

Peter Greenberg

An award-winning reporter and producer, Peter Greenberg is the travel editor for CBS News and host of the national CBS “Eye on Travel” radio show, broadcast from a different location around the world each week. He hosts the public television show “The Travel Detective with Peter Greenberg,” a series of 40+ half-hour episodes featuring travel news, must-have information and insider tips.

Heather Greenwood Davis

Davis is a contributing writer and on-air storyteller for National Geographic, a feature writer for AFAR, Travel+Leisure, The Globe and Mail and other national and international publications. She is the resident travel expert on “The Social” — a national daily show — and co-host of “Get Set, Go!” on CHCH. Davis has spoken at trade events hosted by TravMedia, US Travel Association, Destination Canada, SATW and been featured in O Magazine and on NPR.

Paula Hayes

Over four decades, Paula Hayes has led award-winning sales teams for The Big Red Boat, SuperClubs, Club Med, the Globus family of brands and Avalon Waterways.  She is an active member of ASTA, CLIA, and PATH. As an advocate for the agency community, she has been awarded most recently with the Female Leaders in Travel Luminary Award, by TravelAge West for Outstanding Service to the Travel Industry in the West and by Travel Weekly with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dave Hilfman

Dave Hilfman retired from United Airlines at the end of 2018 after 37 years in the airline industry. In 2018 he was a recipient of Travel Weekly’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Johnny Jet

John E. DiScala, aka Johnny Jet, has traveled over 100,000 miles a year since starting his newsletter in 1995 and has visited close to 100 countries. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been mentioned in major publications, including USA Today and The Los Angeles Times and he has appeared on network TV. He was named one of Forbes Top 10 Travel Influencers.

Dick Knodt

Dick Knodt is founder and CEO of RHK, Inc Travel Organization. He previously served as former CEO of ASTA and is a retired co-founder and former president of Vacation.com.

Rob Kwortnik, PhD

Dr. Kwortnik is an Associate Professor of Services Marketing at Cornell School of Hotel Administration. He has published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Service Research, The International Journal of Research in Marketing, The Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. He has been honored nine times as a Teacher of the Year at Cornell and is a recognized expert on the leisure cruise industry.

Bob Lambert

Bob Lambert spent over 30 years with Avis Budget Group and its predecessor companies, where he held multiple senior leadership positions, both in the field and at a headquarters level. He is currently a Managing Director in the Scottsdale, Ariz., office of executive search firm Harvard Group International (HGI), focusing on multiple industries, including non-profit, travel and transportation and sports and entertainment. 

Marilyn MacCalair

Marilyn has spent more than 40 years in marketing and sales in the travel industry. In 2018, she retired as VP, Business Development at Passport Online, a leader in technology solutions for the leisure travel market. Marilyn managed marketing and sales, customer support and training, and email marketing/social media at Passport and was also account manager for Passport’s leading consortia customers. Since retiring, Marilyn provides consulting services to Passport Online and Phocuswright.

Rudy Maxa

Maxa is the host and executive producer of “Rudy Maxa’s World,” the Emmy Award-winning public television travel series. His 95 television episodes air on public television stations nationwide and in 121 countries in 22 different languages on Travel Channel International. The voice of National Geographic Traveler’s “Walks of a Lifetime” podcasts, he also hosts the weekly travel radio show “RM World Travel with Rudy Maxa and Robert & Mary Carey.”

Kathy Misunas

Misunas currently serves as an advisor and Board Director to various public and private businesses, and acts as a principal of Essential Ideas, a consultancy specializing in the global travel and tourism, technology and online retailing fields. Previously, she was CEO of SABRE, CIO of American Airlines and CEO of Reed Travel Group. Misunas is a co-author of the publication Multi-Channel Distribution: The Essential Guide.

Betsy O’Rourke

Betsy O’Rourke served as Chief Commercial Officer for Xanterra Travel Collection. Prior to that, she was a marketing executive at Royal Caribbean International, Wyndham Worldwide and the Travel Industry Association.

Larry Pimentel

Larry Pimentel is a decorated leader in the luxury and cruise markets. Most recently he was President & CEO of Azamara and RCL Global-Chief Destination Officer (Global Tour Products) and a member of the RCL Executive Committee. He spent more than a decade at Royal Caribbean Group. He was recently inducted into the British Hospitality Hall of Fame. Other  honors include Travel Industry Executive of the Year, Vanguard ICON and Portuguese Presidential Order of Merit Recipient – Business, to name a few.

Norie Quintos

Quintos is a consultant for the travel industry on communications strategy, media relations, custom content and messaging. An award-winning journalist, she is an Editor at Large for National Geographic Travel Media. She is the former executive editor of National Geographic Traveler and was an editor at U.S. News and World Report and Caribbean Travel and Life. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund.

Dondra Ritzenthaler

Dondra is a veteran industry executive with a 40-year sales career, most recently with Celebrity Cruises. She is also widely credited for raising awareness of the importance of travel advisors.

Brian Robb

Robb is a travel industry consultant and serves as Board Chair for The Travel Institute. He started his long travel career in sales and sales management, representing an international airline and hotel group. He followed that with roles at Carlson Companies, including Global Vice President of Marketing. More recently, he focused on corporate and product strategies at La Macchia Enterprises.

Howard Tanenbaum

Howard Tanenbaum began his career working in agency consulting, then joined Club Med, and became president of Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC. He ended his impressive career at Playa Hotels & Resorts.

Melody Tauchman

Melody Tauchman is now retired from her 33-year career, most associated with her tenure at Brendan Vacations. Melody earned her earliest travel stripes at Automobile Club of Southern California.

Alison Taylor

Alison Taylor was Chief Customer Officer at American Airlines. She served as the voice of the customer and worked to create a secure, comfortable and welcoming environment for customers.

Ned Walker

John E. “Ned” Walker served as Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of Delta Air Lines Inc., from 2008 until his retirement in 2019. Walker joined Delta from Continental Airlines Inc., where he served for 21 years as a leading communications strategist. He retired from Continental in 2008 as a member of the airline’s Management Committee and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications.

Wayne Wielgus

A hospitality industry veteran of more than 30 years, Wielgus is the founder of the International Advisor Group, a consultancy for the hospitality industry. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Celebrity Cruises and Azamara and Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Choice Hotels International.