Leading car rental service, Avis has been announced as the headline sponsor of the annual Family Traveller Awards 2017, with Malta Tourism Authority and Kodak also offering sponsorship for the prestigious awards.

Now in its third year, The Family Traveller Awards are dedicated to finding the very best of family holidays in the world and pride themselves on sharing information on how to make these holidays extra special.

Julia Kemp, director of international sales and partnerships at Avis Budget Group commented, “We're thrilled to be sponsoring the Family Traveller Awards this year. Here at Avis, we constantly strive to help families enjoy an unforgettable holiday experience and these awards are all about recognising the providers who make that possible.”

Last year, the awards were met with huge support from the travel industry and public alike, with over 27,000 public votes received. This year there are 21 different categories, up from 18 in 2016, ranging from Best European Hotel for Families, to Best Family Festival and Best Activity Specialist for Families.

Brand new for the awards in 2017 is the Reader's Choice Awards – where the winners will be selected based solely on the majority public vote, with no input from the judging panel. Kids will call the shots in the 'Best UK Days Out for Families category', while mum and dad can have their say on what they think is the 'Best UK Region' and the 'Best UK City Break' for families.

Submissions for nominations will close on the 16th August 2017, with shortlisted entries being announced in the Autumn issue of Family Traveller magazine and online on the 4th September 2017. Once the shortlisted entries have been announced, public voting will open via familytraveller.com and readers will have until the 20th October 2017 to cast their votes. The judging panel will then whittle down the responses to find the winner for each category, which will be announced by a celebrity host at the glamourous celebration in November 2017.

This year, the panel of judges will consist of a range of travel experts, including: Jane Anderson, editor of Family Traveller magazine; Simon Reeve, BBC presenter; Mariella Frostrup, BBC Radio 4 presenter; Sue Ward Davies, travel director of ELLE and Jane Knight, travel editor of The Times.

The full list of categories are:

1. Best Family Airline
2. Best Family Cruise Line
3. Best Family Ferry Operator
4. Best Family Travel Essential
5. Best Family Festival
6. Best Family Theme Park
7. Best UK Hotel for Families
8. Best European Hotel for Families
9. Best Longhaul Hotel for Families
10. Best Kids' Club
11. Best Holiday Rental for Families
12. Best Family Ski Operator
13. Best All-Inclusive Holiday For Families
14. Best Tour Operator For Families
15. Best Activity Specialist For Families
16. Best Adventure Specialist For Families
17. Best UK Day Out For Families – Kids choice award
18. Best UK Region for Families – People's choice award
19. Best UK City Break For Families - People's choice award
20. Best Short Haul Destination for Families
21. Best Overseas Destination For Families

For more information about Family Traveller, visit www.familytraveller.com

For more information about Avis visit www.avis.co.uk

-ENDS-

Media Information

About Family Traveller:

Family Traveller is the UK's premier media brand focusing on all things related to family centric travel. Family Traveller has a monthly reach of over 500,000 affluent UK families with a specific target audience of 30-50 year old mothers with an ABC1 demographic. Family Traveller Magazine is available at Waitrose stores nationwide and selected independent retailers. Our social media following is 100,000+ and the website has over 350,000 monthly unique visitors. The Family Traveller awards received 2,600 nominations in 2016 with a public vote recorded at 27,000. 

About Avis:

Avis Car Rental operates one of the world's best-known car rental brands with approximately 5,500 locations in approximately 170 countries. Avis has a long history of innovation in the car rental industry and is one of the world's top brands for customer loyalty. Avis is owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), which operates and licenses the brand throughout the world.

July 2017