MIAMI — Karisma Hotels & Resorts’ 14th Annual Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultant (GIVC) Awards honoured the brand’s top performing travel advisors, including Canadian travel advisors.
This year’s event was held at the newly opened Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya and kept the tradition of surprising attendees with the location of the host hotel upon arrival.
More than 200 travel advisors from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Latin America were celebrated at the three-day event, which took place Sept. 27-30. Key executives from Karisma Hotels & Resorts and Grupo Lomas were also in attendance, as well as the Governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez.
Winning Canadian agents included Deanna Beatty of Romance and Foodie Travel, recognized as a top Nickelodeon seller, and Sierra Aquino of Wellness by the Waves in the ‘Top Selling Agent’ for Canada category.
The GIVC Awards’ Sales & Marketing Forum was held at the Main Stage, the resort’s main entertainment venue, which was the first event held there since Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya officially opened its doors on Aug. 1, 2021.
The event featured a welcome reception at Aqua Nick, one of Mexico’s largest themed water parks, complete with a fireworks display, resort tours and several immersive on-property experiences throughout each day. Guests were also treated to a pool party at the nearby Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancun, complete with live music, poolside massages and signature floating taco bars.
“The theme of this year’s awards ceremony was resilience,” said Marilyn Cairo, VP, Global Sales. “It was wonderful to recognize and celebrate our prized advisor partners who had to reinvent themselves over the last 18 months due to the pandemic. It’s been an incredibly challenging time, and we are most appreciative of these top-earning producers and suppliers.”
The main event, the Gala Cocktail Reception and Awards Ceremony, took place at El Dorado Royale.
This year, the ceremony acknowledged partners in 21 categories spanning top overall producers, top wedding producers, top producers by brand, top producers by region, Diamond & Elite levels, and the all-new Palm Award, plus the Hall of Fame award.
