Nominations have been opened for the South Asian Travel Awards (SATA) 2018.
Scheduled to take place in India in October, the third edition of SATA consists of 36 categories in 10 segments. Nominations will be accepted by March 15 via regional focal points, email to nominee@satravelawards.com or via an online platform.
According to event organiser Highrise, the nomination kit can be downloaded from the SATA website. Each property can submit nominations to up to three categories.
The major categories in SATA 2018 include:
- Leading guesthouse/tourist inns
- Leading boutique hotel
- Leading beaching hotel/resort
- Most romantic hotel/resort
- Leading all-inclusive hotel/resort
- Leading designer hotel/resort
- Leading F&B hotel/resort
- Leading luxury hotel/resort
- Leading family hotel/resort
- Leading eco hotel/resort
- Leading meeting & conference hotel/resort
- Leading dive hotel/resort
- Leading dive centre
- Leading surf hotel/resort
- Leading wildlife hotel/resort
- Leading adventure hotel/resort
- Leading adventure sports provider
- Leading activity/watersports centre
- Leading heritage hotel/palace
- Leading business hotel
- Leading city hotel
- Leading wellness & spa hotel/resort
- Leading wellness & spa brand
- Leading CSR programme
- Leading tour operator
- Leading travel agent
- Leading PSA service provider
- Leading GSA service provider
- Leading airport hotel
- Leading tourist transport provider (land/sea)
- Leading domestic transport provider (air)
- Leading meeting & convention centre
- Leading houseboat & houseboat brand
- Leading liveaboard & liveaboard brand
- Leading travel technology
Launched in 2016 by Maldives-based event management company Highrise, SATA has been endorsed by regional tourism authorities and organisations, including the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sri Lanka (FCCISL), Colombo Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO), Confederation of Associated Tour Operators (India), Association of Travel Agents (ATA) Maldives, Association of Travel and Tour Operators India (ATTOI), Association of Professionals in Tourism (APT, India), Kerala Hotel General Managers Club (KHGMC), Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Liveaboard Association of Maldives (LAM).
SATA is the first ever regional travel awards endorsed by multi national associations, providing the tourism sector of the South Asian region with recognition towards their facilities and service excellence. It aims to encourage and raise service standards in the region’s tourism industry.
The awards’ first edition, which wrapped up with a gala ceremony at the iconic Mount Lavinia Hotel in Sri Lanka, saw an overwhelming support with more than 260 nominations. Major travel media organisations, including Maldives Insider, Asian Traveller, Asian Geographic, Asian Diver and Floating Asia were appointed as media partners of SATA 2016
More than 414 nominations from the Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal were received for the 39 categories included in the 2017 edition of SATA, which took place at the southernmost Maldives atoll of Addu in October.