TORONTO — Honouring the best-selling Saint Lucia travel agents in the world, the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) recently hosted its first-ever Global Piton Awards for top producing Saint Lucia Expert travel agents from Canada, the U.S., the UK and Ireland.

The weekend event, June 20 – 24, culminated with an award ceremony gala hosted by Sandals Grande St. Lucian Resort & Spa.

Agents were celebrated for their contributions to Saint Lucia’s record-breaking year in tourism.

“We are excited to honour our valued travel agent partners this month at the Global Piton Awards,” said Rod Hanna, Director of Sales, Saint Lucia Tourism Authority. “Travel advisors remain at the forefront of our industry and the Global Piton Awards is our way to honor Canada’s top producing agents.”

The top 31 winners were honored with the prestigious award for recording the highest number of room night bookings last year through the SLEx program. The recipients included six winners from Canada, 15 winners from the U.S., and 10 winners from the UK and Ireland.

Here’s a list of the Canadian winners …

. Shannon Blackburn, K Benn Travel Inc. (Toronto, ON)

. Ingrid Godman, Ingrid’s Travel (Pickering, ON)

. Jen Hardy, Nexion Canada (London, ON)

. Ryan Smith, Robert Q Travel (London, ON)

. Reza Salkhordeh, Marlin Travel (Mississauga, ON)

. Kathie Ashby, Ashby’s Travel, part of The Travel Agent Next Door (Perth, ON)