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We have the short list for the 2012 Tour Leader Awards!
We would like to say a huge thank you to all our customers that have been voting for the last year for the Tour leader Awards!!
It has again been a great success again with a total of 1240 votes for 301 different leaders out of the approximately 630 tour leaders we have worldwide.
Here are the short listed tour leaders:
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Wit Nawabol Panotha - Thailand Wit has been running trips for the last 15 years. He is our first South East Asia leader to run trips in multiple countries.
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Myo Min Zaw has been running trips for us for the last two years. He primarily runs two of our most popular Burma tours.
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Myo Set - Burma Myo Set has been running trips for us for the last two years. He primarily runs two of our most popular Burma tours.
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'Whitey' (as he is known) has been running the Kilimanjaro - Lemosho TrekTanzanian Volcano Trek for the last two years. He was one of the first local leaders to be chosen from Ahsante guides; he has proved his worth ever since.
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Jacov Milicevic - Croatia Jakov is very new to tour leading for Explore, having only completed one summer season in Croatia, but has managed to excel in all tours - from boat cruises to cycling to family tours – an all-rounder
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Chris Siviter has been running trips for us for over 10 years. He primarily runs the Discover Belize tour. However he occasionally also runs trips in Mexico and Guatemala as well.
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Erwin Verhagen - UK Erwin has now been running tours for Explore for almost five years. He has covered many corners of the world including the Azores, Italy and the Middle East.
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Sue has been running tours for us for over 10 years. You are very likely to find her roaming around Ethiopia where she primarily leads.
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Sorab Jassawalla - India Sorab Jassawalla has been working with Explore since 2010. He runs tours all over India but has mainly led the Indian Rail Odyysey and Treasures of Centrail India tours.
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Ranjeet Singh has been working with Explore since 2010. He has run tours in both North and South India as well as Bangladesh. He did an excellent job on the South India Explorer and Dhaka to Delhi tours
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Pabel has been running tours for Explore as a Tour Leader for the last two years. However he has been working as a guide for Explore on the Inca Trail and other trails around Machu Picchu for the last seven years. He primarily runs our most popular Peru tours.
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Firat has been running tours for Explore for the last four years. He leads a huge selection of our Turkey tours.
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Zafer has been running tours for Explore for the last four years. He primarily leads some of our most popular Turkey tours. |
Congratulations to them all and good luck!
The panel will be meeting on the 18th February. You can find out who is on the judging panel below.
How do we choose the winners?
Now that the voting has closed, a panel of Explore staff and travel industry professionals (see below) will lock themselves in a room to sort through the nominations and pick a shortlist, runners-up and an overall winner. It's often a stressful day but very rewarding - reading through all the nominations we receive really highlights how much you appreciate the job our leaders do.
If you have travelled with any of the leaders above and would like to send us further information you can send it in to tourleaders@explore.co.uk
Meet the judging panel for the 2012 Tour Leader Awards:
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Alison Smith Alison is an Explore customer who won our competition to find a regular ‘Explorian’ to help judge the awards. She is an IT professional who has loved Atlases and Maps from an early age, whilst being moved all over by her father’s job. She believes it is the people you meet and learn from and the friendships created whilst travelling that make each trip most memorable. A keen diver and photographer she is delighted to have been to Madagascar and the Galapagos, other trails travelled include China, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Italy, Canada, USA, India, South Africa and Kenya, with a trip to Jordan planned soon. Having enjoyed both good and not so good experiences on tours, she is looking forward to being part of the judging panel. |
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Carolina Gryngarten Carolina was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she worked for several years as a national guide and as a project co-ordinator for Time Out. After moving to the UK in 2003 she started working for Explore firstly in Reservations and then the Operations Department where she eventually became the Head of Operations in 2008. Carolina has a wealth of travel experience and counts among her favourites the calmness and cuisine of S.E. Asia; the extraordinary sense of going back in time in Papua New Guinea; and the atmosphere, rhythms and music of Brazil. Her 9 years in the Operations Department have enabled her to work closely with many tour leaders and to take part in numerous tour leader training courses both in the UK and around the world.
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Ashley Toft Ashley starting working as a Tour Leader for Explore in 1988; he led for 6 years throughout the Middle East, Turkey, Indian Sub-Continent and SE Asia. He also spent a year in Spain and Central America. He still describes Tour Leading as the most instantly satisfying job imaginable. After running a small overland travel company for a couple of years, he joined the Explore office team as an Operations Manager in 1996, before moving onto a variety of roles within Product Development and Customer Services. He became Managing Director in October 2006. He is still a regular Explore traveller and joined the first ever coast to coast cycle tour in the UK last year, plus has just returned from his 7th Explore Family Adventure, having spent Christmas and New Year in Thailand with his family. |
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Niall Douglas - Managing Director - Full Circle Travel After studying Tourism Business Administration at Birmingham University the draw of the ski slopes became too great for Niall. Following two seasons as a chalet host in La Plagne, Niall joined Ski Alpine, a tour operator specialising in large group ski holidays. Two very successful years followed at Abercrombie and Kent, a career sadly curtailed by the events of September 2001. In May 2002 Niall set up Full Circle Travel which is now an award winning AITO Specialist niche travel agency. Travelling regularly for business and with his family Niall lists his favourite place to stay as Greystoke Camp on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania - "A truly magical place, having the opportunity to spend time with the Chimpanzees was an unforgettable experience".
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Margaret McEwan (Flo) – Head of Governance and Customer Relations Margaret joined Explore in 1986 and has 27 years’ worth of experience of listening to customers. She has gained an invaluable insight into what customers like (and dislike) about our trips and what makes the perfect tour leader. Away from the office she is a keen runner and photographer and is also a serving Magistrate in the local community. |
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Peter Grunert Peter Grunert is the founding editor of Lonely Planet Traveller magazine, the UK’s best-selling travel magazine and part of a network of 14 editions around the world. His last trip was to Iceland, where he was lucky enough to (just about) spot the northern lights.
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