The Hotel Booking Agents Association’s (HBAA) partnership with BDRC Continental has seen the best ever response for entries for the coveted HBAA Agent of the Year Award. Already 16 agencies are vying for the title, compared to nine last year for a similar category.

This year, the award will see market research company BDRC Continental carry out in-depth research over a six-week period amongst the competing agents to test core values, including quality of service, effective processing, clarity of communication and market knowledge.

Peter Ducker, executive director of the HBAA, said: “This award has received huge attention  within the association, as it will give agents impartial feedback on their quality of service. Most importantly, it will give a true differentiator when they are tendering for new corporate clients.”

James Bland, client services director of BDRC Continental, added: “Hotel booking agents are hugely significant in the meetings market, so we are very excited to be in partnership with the HBAA to help monitor their performance. Our Meetings Benchmark Tracker programme has been used by hotel chains since 1999 to improve the service delivered to clients, and we expect the insight from this project to do exactly the same in the agency sector.”

The award will be presented at the HBAA Annual Forum at Radisson Blu, Stansted Airport, on 6 September 2012.

Pictured: Peter Ducker