The "Golden Meridian" Russian Travel Awards have been established to recognize and encourage best customer service in the travel and tourist industry. The annual "Golden Meridian" Awards are presented to companies that are selected by Russian travelers and industry experts for their excellence in service.
The selection process of the "Golden Meridian" winners is based on a poll carried out among Russian tourists and Expert Council. Therefore the "Golden Meridian" Awards is a symbol of the highest level of service. To participation in Awards competition are invited companies which worked with Russian tourists in the summer 2008 – winter 2009 season. All "Golden Meridian 2009" contestants have to pass 2-staged selection process: Stage I – Selection of nominees and Stage II – Selection of laureates.
The Awards Categories for foreign contestants are: Best Foreign Air Companies; Best Concept Hotels; Best Hotels of Foreign Country; Openings of the Year.
The Expert Council 2009 has included top managers of the leading Russian tour operators “Capital Tour”, “Inna Tour”, “Balkan Express”, “Zdravkurort”, “Sunrise Tour”, “Russian Express Club”, “UTE Megapolus Group”, “Spectrum”, “Vand International Tour”, “TourBazar”, “Lanta-tur”, “Base Travel”, “Solvex”, “BSI” and specialized Media representatives “National Geographic Russia”, “Voyage”, “Tourinfo” Informational Group, portals “Turizm.ru” and ‘100 roads”.
Awards Trophy of "Golden Meridian" represents a geographical meridian and symbolizes the golden standards in travel and tourist industry.