It beat two other finalists, CommunicAsia and International Maritime Week, in the Events category of the awards. 

WIT won for its 2009 conference, held last October, which had the theme of “Tough Love” to reflect the tough times the travel and tourism industry was undergoing after the global financial meltdown.

It acted as a call to arms and became a rallying point for travel leaders to inspire and motivate each other to make it through the tough times and to bounce back, stronger. 

The theme was embedded in all aspects of the event, from the branding on stage to the programming, as well as conference materials including a book called “Tough Love: Lessons of 2009” which contained a collection of essay contributions from speakers. It was also the first year that the event introduced WITcast, a Twitter live feed, which allowed delegates to tweet comments and post questions.

Run by the Singapore Tourism Board, the Singapore Experience Awards are judged by local and international professionals in the tourism, hospitality and travel industries and are a true reflection of peer opinion. 

From the first conference in 2005, Web In Travel has developed into a multi-media platform to deliver quality content to its target community. Today, it is a media brand that has daily news updates, a weekly e-newsletter, videos, social networks that engage its community and mini-events such as WIT*e – Inspiration & Mentoring for students and young talent and the WITovation Entrepreneur Bootcamp, the first of which was held on October 18 this year. 

You could say it’s gone beyond a conference to a movement with its objectives to inspire and mentor young talent, and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the industry.

Content though is what differentiates Web In Travel from other travel conferences. From the outset, WIT has set out to deliver a programme that would deliver high quality content, encourage maximum audience interactivity and stimulate creative thinking and robust discussions.

WIT’s Editor and Producer, Yeoh Siew Hoon, said, “Doing this year after year in a segment that is changing so rapidly is a challenge because you’ve got to ensure the content remains relevant and timely even if you plan it months ahead. So what we do is take a collaborative approach and develop the content from ground up, engaging with our speakers, sponsors and customers constantly to ensure the content is in line with current trends and meets their needs. It also means constant changes to the programming, often up to the day of the event itself.”

WIT won Most Innovative Marketing Initiative in the same awards in 2008. 

“It takes teamwork to make anything happen and I am lucky to be surrounded by hardworking, passionate people who believed in WIT from the outset,” said Siew Hoon.  “I am also thankful to loyal supporters and customers who have been unstinting in their support of WIT over the years.”

Featured image credit (Abstract Heart Background): Ockra/iStock