Four Routes events took place on three continents in 2017, and we were lucky enough to travel to some amazing destinations. Our regional events took place in Las Vegas, Okinawa and Belfast, with the global World Routes forum in Barcelona topping the year. A total of 19,228 meetings were held between 5,377 delegates.
Here are the visual highlights of the year.
Our fabulous hosts for Routes Americas 2017 were Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and McCarran International Airport. It was the largest Routes Americas event to date with 820 delegates taking part in 2,700 meetings.
“If we could host a Routes event every year we would,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, President/CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“We have a long relationship with Routes which has produced tangible results for us,” added Chris Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at McCarran International Airport.
Denver International Airport was the overall winner of the Routes Americas 2017 Marketing Awards, which recognise excellence in aviation marketing.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Regina International Airport and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau also scooped awards in their categories.
Next up was Routes Asia 2017 in the beautiful island prefecture of Okinawa.
It was the first time that the event was held in Japan, which was an exciting step for the Routes business.
Okinawa Prefectural Government and Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau hosted nearly 1,000 delegates from across the Asia Pacific region.
Changi Airport was announced as the overall winner of the Routes Asia 2017 Marketing Awards, just six months after winning the World Routes 2016 Marketing Awards in Chengdu, China.
Singapore Changi Airport with the rest of the winners in their categories: Sunshine Coast Airport, Adelaide International Airport and Philippine Department of Tourism.
The capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast, was the vibrant host city of Routes Europe 2017.
Northern Ireland has enjoyed a tourism boom in recent years, helped by the HBO programme Games of Thrones which was filmed in some of its most beautiful locations.
Team Northern Ireland showed 1,200 route development professionals from 114 airlines, 270 airports and 36 tourism authorities what a welcoming city Belfast is.
The deals done at Routes Europe 2017 include British Airways' new services from London City to Reykjavik and Prague.
And Icelandair's decision to increase its seasonal service between Vancouver and Keflavik International Airport to year-round.
Ryanair's Chief Marketing Officer, Kenny Jacobs, discussed the airline's ambition to become "the Amazon of air travel".
The Networking Evening was held in Titanic Belfast, a monument to the city's maritime heritage.
Munich Airport was crowned the overall winner of the Routes Europe 2017 Marketing Awards.
Birmingham Airport, Shannon Airport and Canary Islands Tourist Board won the awards in the rest of the categories.
And last but certainly not least, World Routes 2017 was held in Barcelona, Spain.
World Routes 2017 set new records with the presence of 275 airlines including the world’s top ten largest (by both passenger numbers and revenue passenger kilometres) at the event inBarcelona’s Fira Gran Via.
They were joined by 610 airports and 90 tourism authorities from across the globe.
IAG CEO Willie Walsh delivered one of the high points of the conference programme. Speaking in front of a packed audience, Walsh said that LEVEL would grow to about 13 aircraft by 2019 and up to 30 by 2022.
The World Routes stands get more impressive every year!
Delegates voted Copenhagen Airports for the Best Stand Award, thanks to the amazing juice drinks and coffee that kept us going throughout the event.
And Vancouver International Airport won the big one - the World Routes 2017 Marketing Awards!
Anne Murray, Vancouver International Airport’s vice president of marketing and Communications said: "We are deeply honoured with this recognition. This all comes down to team – our exceptional team at YVR, our outstanding airline partners and our community and tourism organisations who all work together to support the increase of traffic to Vancouver.”
Léon Verhallen of Brussels Airport won a new award for individuals who make an outstanding contribution to route development.
Léon said: “This is a very special award for me. It’s my 30th year working in aviation, but this has only been possible because of the teams I have worked with. I spent many years in Amsterdam and the past 13 years in the Brussels team. I am proud to have worked with such amazing people.
“I was at the birth of the aviation marketing and since then the industry has come such a long way; you only have to look at the quality of people in the room here tonight.”
All of the winners were honoured during the ceremony at Palau Sant Jordi, one of the venues for the Olympic Games in 1992.
The 2018 events will be held in Quito (Routes Americas), Brisbane (Routes Asia), Bilbao (Routes Europe) and Guangzhou (World Routes).
We hope to see you there!