ASTA has announced the nominees for its top award categories Extra Mile Award and the Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
The winners will be announced at the ASTA Global Convention taking place in San Diego, California, August 27-29.
"Travel agents do extraordinary things for their clients every day and our industry is constantly innovating," said ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby.
"The submissions we received for these awards highlight the trust consumers place in the travel agency community and that time and time again, agents deliver. This year's entrepreneur submissions offered inspiring stories about professionals and companies who are making lasting and meaningful contribution to the future of the travel industry," Kerby added.
The nominees for the Extra Mile Award include TravelPulse contributor Tammy Levent of Elite Travel Management Group, Inc. as well as Lisa Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Travel and Mindy Walts of Empress Travel & Cruises.
The Extra Mile Award honors travel agents who go the extra mile for their clients "in a new and creative way that goes above and beyond the normal course of business."
Entries were gathered from around the world from self-nominated agents as well as from those submitting on an agents behalf. This year's honor is sponsored by Enterprise.
The Entrepreneur of the Year was established by the Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation. The award was created to reward the entrepreneurial spirit within the travel and hospitality sector.
Winners are selected by both ASTA and the foundation and receive a $10,000 cash prize.
This year, finalists will take the stage at the ASTA Global Convention on August 28 in a "Shark Tank"-style competition to compete for the reward. Each nominee has five minutes to make their "pitch" to a panel of industry experts. Judges cast their votes for the finalists and the audience will act as a "super judge," and will also cast a vote for the winner, according to ASTA.
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The finalists include Agent Studio and Travalliance partner, David Chait of Travefy.
Travefy has received rave reviews from agents for its trip planning service.
"I am so happy to see that David Chait of Travefy has been nominated for Entrepreneur of the year. At Taylor & Co. Travel we have been using Travefy for a number of years. It is an amazing tool backed by an exceptional staff of people. I wouldn't want to sell travel without it," said Miki Taylor, Agent Amadassador for Agent Studio.
Travel and rentals specialists, Nico and Elkie Nicholas of RentalsCombined.net, were also named as finalists. Their rental service has been described as the "professional answer to Airbnb."
Jacob Marek, IntroverTravels, is the third finalist. Marek provides a unique service for the introverted traveler, planning life-changing experiences for those who want to travel solo but not alone. Marek has received rave reviews for his trip-planning services from customers such as Delli T.
"It was truly the best travel experience of my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat," said Delli.
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