With just three months until the 23rd World Youth Student and Educational Conference - WYSTC 2014 - gets under way in Dublin, nominations have opened for the Global Youth Travel Awards 2014, which will be presented during the event.

The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation, whose annual awards recognise outstanding performers serving the youth, student and educational travel field, will be accepting applications across 12 categories until Friday, 15 August

Categories for the awards, which are now in their fourth year, include: App Yap, Best B2B Tech Product, Extraordinary Experience, Green Accommodation Initiative, Innovation in Marketing, Outstanding Volunteer Project, Social Responsibility, plus Best Work Experience.

Recognising the evolving nature of the youth, student and educational travel industry, this year's awards have been expanded to include four new categories. The Best Youth Destination category will reward destinations that have made focused and successful efforts to attract and accommodate youth travellers, while new awards will also be presented for Best Airline for Youth, Best Youth Accommodation and Best Youth Travel Provider.

David Chapman, Director General of WYSE Travel Confederation, says: “As a sector which accounts for 207 million arrivals every year and is predicted to increase by 59% over the next decade, we know there is a lot to celebrate.

“We created the Global Youth Travel Awards to reflect the diverse nature of this dynamic industry and to recognise the outstanding performers contributing to its growth. We therefore look forward to acknowledging the companies and individuals that continue to raise the bar in providing world-class travel experiences.”

The 2014 awards are sponsored by Else, an app that helps individuals find like-minded travellers.

The Global Youth Travel Awards were first presented at the WYSTC event in Barcelona in 2011 and past winners include Hostelling International, EF, Smaller Earth, World Nomads and CIEE. This year's awards ceremony will bring WYSTC 2014 to a close in Dublin on the evening of Friday, 26 September.

Full details on the awards, including how to enter, can be found at http://awards.wystc.org/.

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Notes to the editor

For media enquiries please contact:

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                                                              E. communications@wysetc.org

About WYSE Travel Confederation

• The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for the youth, student and educational travel industry.
• Founded in 2006 and created from the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) - both formed after World War II to inspire young people through international travel and to help remove cultural barriers - the confederation brings together 60 years of youth travel expertise.
• Providing international travel experiences to over 10 million youth and students each year, WYSE Travel Confederation's global community of over 800 members spans more than 120 countries from a diverse range of sectors.
• From adventure tour operators to au pair agencies, cultural exchange programmes to language schools, hop-on-hop-off buses to student insurance and youth hostels to volunteer programmes, WYSE Travel Confederation is the world's most powerful network of youth and student travel professionals, connecting key industry players with decision makers and government officials.
• The Confederation is committed to understanding the ever-changing characteristics, motivations and needs of young travellers. By gathering, analysing and sharing important market intelligence with members, academics and government decision-makers, the unique fast-changing needs of the youth market is at the forefront of its activities as it seeks to accelerate the development of youth travel.
• For more information visit www.wysetc.org or follow the organisation on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About WYSTC 2014

• WYSTC 2014 is the essential business-to-business global youth travel industry event.
• Now in its 23rd year, WYSTC is the annual event of WYSE Travel Confederation.
• From 23 – 26 September 2014, more than 800 travel professionals from over 450 businesses globally will gather at the Convention Centre Dublin Dublin, Ireland for four days of trading, seminars and workshops, networking, industry think tanks and more.
• For more information, visit www.wystc.org
• Stay in touch via twitter on @wystc using #wystc2014.