"Oscar" win for Marie Grenham at Irish Travel Industry Awards
Athlone travel agent extraordinaire, Marie Grenham, felt like she won a Hollywood Oscar when she won the prestigious President's Award for her outstanding contribution to the travel industry at the recent Irish Travel Industry Awards.
“I was completely stunned when my name was called out, and to tell you the truth I am still overwhelmed” said a delighted Marie “it is very hard to believe the magnitude of the honour, and I never expected to receive it.”
Having been at the helm of Grenham Travel on Connaught street since the death of her beloved Dad, Tom in 1999, Marie Grenham is the third generation of her family to work in the family business which was started by her late grandfather, John in 1911.
In her acceptance speech at the ITAA awards ceremony in Dublin's Mansion House, which was attended by over 500 travel and tourism professionals from around the world, Marie dedicated her President's Award to her late father, whom she described as her “idol and mentor.”
Her warm tribute to her Dad resulted in many people coming up to her afterwards to say how moved they were by her acceptance speech, she says, and she is particularly proud of the fact that a travel agency outside of Dublin won the coveted President's prize.
“It is a great tribute to the hard work of all the team in Grenham Travel here in Athlone, and we have been inundated with messages of congratulations and goodwill from our customers” says Marie, who describes her five colleagues as being like “one big family....we have our ups and downs like any business, and you need to have a sense of humour, but this Award is a great honour for each and every member of our staff.”
Grenham Travel is no stranger to awards, having won the ITAA “Travel Agency of the Year” award in 2017 and the “Best General Marketing Campaign” award the following year, but Marie Grenham admits that the Presidents Award is “the icing on the cake.”
“It really is like the Oscars of the travel industry” she says “and we are still shocked and stunned to have been recognised and honours by our peers with such an amazing award.”