The British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) has appointed the Charitable Travel Fund (CTF) as its chosen charity for the year ahead.

The charity, which helps those suffering from disadvantage in destinations in the developing world dependent on tourism income, when that income is disrupted by catastrophe, will benefit from a programme of events being organised by the BGTW during 2021 and 2022.

The first fundraising event is the BGTW Annual Gala Awards Dinner - 'A Celebration of Travel', empowered by Tenerife Tourism, taking place at The Savoy in central London on Sunday 31 October.

Commenting on the new partnership, Simon Willmore, BGTW chairman, says: "I'm delighted to be announcing this new partnership with the Charitable Travel Fund. This is a perfect match, bringing together travel writers committed to telling stories about tourism destinations across the world, with a charity committed to supporting those destinations that find themselves in financial difficulty through no fault of their own. Starting with our gala dinner at the end of October and continuing through 2022, the Guild looks forward to helping raise much-needed funds to not only support the CTF's valuable work but also to highlight the work being achieved."

Chair of Trustees for the Charity, Chris Lee, comments: "We are equally delighted that the Charitable Travel Fund has been chosen by the BGTW as its charity partner. The Guild's membership is perfectly placed to understand the communities we seek to support. As the travel industry finally starts to emerge from the 'Covid cloud' it is vital that we recognise and support the tourism-dependent communities around the world as they continue to struggle following 18 months' absence of tourism income and prepare for future weather, political, terror and Acts of God that impact the positive transformational benefit of tourism on these developing world communities."

For more information about the Charitable Travel Fund, go to www.charitable.org

For more information about the British Guild of Travel Writers, and the forthcoming gala dinner, go to www.bgtw.org/gala

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Notes to editors:

The British Guild of Travel Writers is a community of accredited writers, photographers, blogger and broadcasters; the trusted body for independent editorial comment and expert content on worldwide travel. For press information call the BGTW Secretariat on 020 8144 8713 or email secretariat@bgtw.org

The Charitable Travel Fund is administered by registered charity The Charitable Travel Foundation, a charity registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales no. 1189531. For further enquiries please contact the charity founder and volunteer manager Melissa Tilling. Email help@charitabletravel.org, or telephone 020 3092 2428. For more information about the charity, visit www.charitabletravel.org