TravMedia's Influencer Conference, Marketplace & Awards takes place at the QEII Centre London, 26 March 2019.

The inaugural sit-UP awards have opened for entries, producing a flurry of interest from influencers and travel brands.

Five awards are up for grabs for influencers alone, while three trophies will recognise the best influencer activity by travel and tourism brands. The deadline is 22 February.

sit-UP is TravMedia UK's brand new business-focused event connecting the travel industry with influencers (www.situpevent.com), taking place on 26 March 2019 at the QEII Centre, London. The winners will be announced at the event's after-party. sit-UP also features a morning conference and an afternoon marketplace connecting influencers with brands.

The awards up for grabs by travel brands are Social Media Campaign of the Year, Influencer Marketing Campaign of the Year, and Travel Brand of the Year. For influencers the categories are Rising Star; Disruptor of the Year; Blog of the Year; Vlogger of the Year, and Travel Influencer of the Year.

TravMedia today also announced the awards' judging line-up, which includes PR supremos, journalists and influencer marketing specialists. 

The judges are:

Alastair McKenzie, travel journalist, blogger and former Chairman of the British Guild of Travel Writers

Amanda Hills-Balfour, President, Hills Balfour & MMGY Global

David Ezra, PR Director, KBC PR

Debbie Flynn, Managing Partner, Brighter Group

Debbie Hindle, Managing Director, Four Travel

Emma Brennan, Head of Media and PR, ABTA – The Travel Association

Emma Mead, Head of Global PR & Influencer Marketing, VisitBritain / VisitEngland

Julia Record, Global Director of Communications, Dorchester Collection

Kate McWillliams, Deputy Managing Director, LOTUS

Phil Bloomfield, dnata Travel Europe, Travelbag and Netflights

Rachel O'Reilly, Head of Communications, Kuoni

Stuart Fyfe, PR Manager (International UK/Northern Europe), Tourism Australia

Sue Whitehead, Director, Hume Whitehead Limited

Tim Fordham Moss, Founder/Director, WixHill

Brands signed up for sit-UP include Atout France and many regional French tourist boards, Austrian National Tourist Office, Bournemouth & Poole Tourism, Calgary Stampede, Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Cultural Heart of Germany, Grenada Tourism Authority, Hand Picked Hotels, Macao Government Tourist Office, Savoie Mont Blanc Tourisme, TrekAmerica, Visit Brussels and VisitDenmark.

Among 200 influencers registered for the event are top names including Alex Zouaghi (A on the road); Carolina Trippar (Steph T); Dave Brett (Travel Dave); Emily Luxton (Emily Luxton Travels); Jenny Eaves (Monkey and Mouse); Jodie Dewberry (Alajode); Macca Sherifi (An Adventurous World); Olivia Cox (TV & Radio Presenter); Sean Webster (Sug Sean); Steffi Crivellaro (Steffi DayDreamer); Vicky Etherington (Eat Sleep Love Travel), and Yishyene Chew (smallcrazy).

sit-UP's high-profile conference speakers include Alex Hunter (Attaché) the former global Head of Online for Virgin Group; Emma Mead, VisitBritain; Philip Trippenbach, Edelman; David Reilly (Life of Reilly); Julie Falconer (A Lady in London); Karen Beddow (MiniTravellers); Paul Johnson (A Luxury Travel Blog), and Sian Lewis (The Girl Outdoors).

Following sit-UP's morning conference, the afternoon plays host to the Travel Influencer Marketplace, a three-hour networking marathon where influencers hold meetings at the exhibition stands of sit-UP brands.

sit-UP takes place the day after the QEII hosts IMM – also created by TravMedia UK - the market-leading event connecting journalists with the travel industry. Demand for IMM has been strong, with exhibition space almost sold out and over 200 media registered.

Said Ana Rodrigues, Event Manager for sit-UP: “We're witnessing a cascade of award entries from travel brands and influencers, and we're counting down to the big reveal on 26 March! Big thanks go out to our fantastic set of judges for their involvement in the process, for which we're extremely grateful.”

Submit your awards entry here: http://situpevent.com/evening-awards.html#sit-up-award 

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EDITORS NOTES

Originally created by a travel journalist seeking a better way to research and report travel news, TravMedia is dedicated to creating thriving online communities of travel journalists and travel PR professionals.

The company currently operates in 11 countries: Australia, Germany, Dubai, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Africa, and has amassed over 50,000 journalist and PR members.

In the UK, TravMedia and Food4Media are part of the family of websites that also includes Homes4Media.com and Property4Media.com, sites that are owned and operated separately by News4Media Ltd.

The technology used by the sites has become an essential tool for journalists and PR professionals in their day-to-day activities, as they connect and share information in their working lives.

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For further information, please contact:

Ana Rodrigues

sit-UP Event Manager

T: +44 (0)20 3440 8914

E: ana.rodrigues@travmedia.com