By RUSS OLIVO

PAWTUCKET — As a rule, Blackstone Valley Tourism Council President Robert D. Billington never stakes dinner in a bet with anyone.

But when he learned he was a contender for the World Travel Awards title of  “Travel Personality of the Year,” he broke the rule. After all, it seemed so absurd that he would be competing for the title with the likes of Jay Raasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, and Cheryl Hudak, president and CEO of the mammoth American Society of Travel Agents, the whole thing seemed like a joke.
But he’s not laughing now.
He owes.
The BVTC’s founder and one-man dynamo is indeed Mr. Travel Personality of the Year. The unlikely contender picked up his surprise trophy in a black-tie dinner — which he practically had to be talked into attending — at the swank Swan Hotel & Convention Center on the grounds of Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 6.
But until the envelope containing the winner’s name was unsealed, Billington figured he was just a token choice to round out the field of contenders for the London-based WTA’s North American group of awards.
 “It was a total shock,” said Billington. “I was so certain I was thrown in because I was just another American.”
When he first heard about the nomination, Billington was so incredulous that he tried doing some research just to prove it must have all been a mistake.
He didn’t even know what the WTA was at that point, but he found out that it’s a giant organization that presents awards in travel and tourism to organizations and individuals all over the world.
He went on the computer trying to confirm that something called the Travel Personality of the Year Award even existed. He found out it was a new award the WTA had created for the first time this year, but he still wasn’t satisfied. He started calling up officials at the WTA to find out if he had been properly nominated.
When they assured him he was, Billington still wasn’t sure it would be worth hopping on a plane just to hear his name placed in nomination. He seemed like an unlikely winner, especially since the ceremony was at Disney World, the home turf of his competition, Raasulo. There was no way he was going down there to be an also-ran, because he’d have to rush to make it. The awards ceremony was on the same day as the annual dragon boat races on the Blackstone River, and Billington felt like he had to stick around to make sure that went smoothly.
But the folks at the WTA kept giving him all sorts of green lights and encouragement to show up. So after the dragon boat races ended, he and his wife hopped on a jet to Orlando and made it to the Swan just in time.
Suddenly, Billington found himself thrust into an affair that seemed more like the Academy Awards than a convention of travel and tourism bigwigs. There were glitzy models escorting nominees to the stage for all sorts of awards. There was a 10-piece band and television stars, courtesy of Disney’s wholly owned subsidiary, the American Broadcasting Television network.
And then they finally ripped open the envelope with the winner’s name in it. But Billington still couldn’t figure out how he ended up at the top of the list.
It was all such a mystery to him, he did some asking around after the ceremony. He found out he had come to the attention of the WTA in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, during the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit in February. That’s when the organization honored the BVTC with its prestigious Destination Award.
It was a “major competition” that the WTTC “made a big deal out of in front of 5,000” travel and tourism bigwigs from around the world, said Billington. It was the first time the organization had ever given the award to an American tourism organization, and it apparently put Billington on the WTA’s radar.
Billington is still incredulous of becoming the first Travel Personality of the Year. He figures he is not in the travel business as much as the business of tourism-based economic development, designed to improve the lives of people who already live in the Blackstone Valley.
But if he ever needs a reality check, he has a bronze sculpture to remind him - and something else: The envelope that held the winner’s name.
“I got the envelope,” said Billington. “They let me keep it.”