The GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) Foundation commissioned Bennett Awards to create a new custom award design for some recognition awards they recently presented. These trophies were created for GBTA’s North America Project ICARUS Outstanding Achievement Awards. The awards recognize travel buyers, suppliers and intermediaries who can demonstrate outstanding leadership, innovation and commitment to delivering best in class sustainability programs, products and services across North America.

The GBTA is the world’s premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA’s 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 21,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. The GBTA Foundation provides on-going financial resources to conduct research initiatives beneficial to the entire business travel industry; to support educational and research offerings for business travel industry professionals and to provide scholarship opportunities for business travel professionals.

The GBTA Foundation launched the Project ICARUS initiative as the definitive source of information, education, support and recognition programs for sustainability in the business travel and meetings industry across the globe. This is a program led by and targeted primarily at national and international travel buyers, suppliers and intermediaries who wish to integrate sustainability into the way they deliver travel and meetings programs, products and services.

For these new custom achievement awards, Bennett Awards created a new, unique sculpture design that reflected both the project’s brand imagery, as well as the sustainability aspect of the project. The sculpture form was based on Project ICARUS’s logo – a feather that transforms into a flame. This sculpture was cast in reclaimed pewter, and featured two finishes. The feather portion of the sculpture was gold plated, while the flame portion was left as a natural pewter finish, again reflecting the design of the logo. These sculptures were then mounted on bases made from wood that was reused from a local wood tower. Plates were attached to each base with personalized engraving of the Project ICARUS name, the name of the award, and the recipient name.