Winners of the Awards will be Revealed at a Gala Dinner at The Londoner, now scheduled for 5 April 2022 | Awards set new bar for the finest journalistic, influencer and PR achievements in travel.

TravMedia UK today announced the finalists for the TravMedia Awards in an industry broadcast watched by over 200 journalists, PRs and influencers.

Up to six finalists were announced across each of the platform's 22 categories. 

The industry's social network also revealed a new date for the TravMedia Awards gala dinner planned for The Londoner, Leicester Square. The prestigious event now takes place on Tuesday 5 April 2022, with the date moved forward (from the originally scheduled 2 February) because of the current restrictions. 

The Awards (www.travmediaawards.com) honour the finest journalistic, influencer and PR achievements in travel, and set a new bar for recognising each sub-sector's top professionals and most memorable output.

Highlights include Travel Writer of the Year, PR Professional of the Year, and Influencer of the Year. Sponsors of the Awards include Croatian National Tourist Board, Destination Canada, Gran Canaria, Hyatt, Princess Cruises, Switzerland Tourism and Tourism Australia, with categories still available in the run up to the big night.

On Awards night, a celebrity host will drive the show and sponsors' tables will host category finalists. The evening's big reveals will segue within a three-course dinner, following a champagne networking reception, and the night will climax with a lavish after-party in one of The Londoner's most exclusive lounges. Entry to the Awards event will be limited to finalists, sponsors, and limited ticket holders.

Freelance and staff journalists enjoy new opportunities for glory this year with the introduction of Specialist Travel Writer of the Year, Sustainability Writer of the Year, and Exclusive of the Year awards, all of which turned out to be fiercely contested.

All finalists are listed below. Among the most fiercely contested categories were Consumer Staff Writer of the Year (Sponsored by Hyatt), where the finalists were Benjamin Parker, Chris Haslam, Greg Dickinson, Lisa Minot, Liz Edwards, and Tom Robbins. The Freelance Writer of the Year (sponsored by Switzerland Tourism) shortlist reads Antonia Windsor, Christopher Beanland, Ianthe Butt, Jamie Lafferty and Mike MacEacheran. Specialist Travel Writer sees Adrian Philips, Ian Belcher, Michelle Jana Chan, Nigel Tisdall, Jane Knight, and Juliet Rix going down to the wire. 

The hotly contested 'blue-ribband' category of National Newspaper Travel Section of the Year Award (sponsored by Destination Canada) will be won by one from the Daily Mail, The Independent, Metro, Sunday Times Travel and Telegraph Travel. 

In the PR categories, the shortlist for PR Professional of the Year reads Frank Marr, Nadia Walford, Olivia Lewis, Paul Charles, and Rachel O'Reilly. PR Agency of the Year will be won by one of Finn Partners Travel, Four Communications, Heaven Publicity, LOTUS and Siren Communications, while the In-House PR Team of the Year is between British Airways Holidays, Kuoni, Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, VisitEngland and VisitScotland.

In the Influencer categories, the ultimate award of Influencer of the Year (sponsored by Croatian National Tourist Board) sees finalists of Abigail King, Cathy Bartrop, Chloe Gunning, Paul Johnson, and Sophie Davis.

The first year's winners, announced at a gala ceremony at the QEII Centre, London, in March 2020, attracted a packed audience of over 300 people. Broadcaster John Humphrys presided over the event.

Henry Hemming, Managing Director of TravMedia, told the audience: “We've witnessed an extraordinary response to the Awards, receiving well over 600 unique entries. The quality across all the media, PR and influencer categories has been a complete eye-opener and our judges told us they found it exceptionally tough making their decisions.

“From the start our aim for the TravMedia Awards has been to set a new bar in recognising the finest talent in travel journalism, PR and influence. We're focused on ensuring the greatest possible quality of entries, and we know that on Awards night we will end up with meritorious winners whose accomplishments should rightly be acknowledged.

“We're now looking forward to celebrating the outcomes on 5 April at The Londoner.”

The Awards are organised by TravMedia, the leading social network connecting the global travel industry with media and influencers. 

The Awards are independent, not linked to any grouping or association, and are open to all journalists, influencers, and PR professionals. The Awards are adjudicated by an expert panel of 32 judges from across the travel industry, including senior media figures, communications heads and commentators, and top industry executives.

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The TravMedia Awards – Finalists  

THE MEDIA CATEGORIES

MEDIA RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Adam Turner
James March
Jessica Vincent
Portia Jones
Richard Collett  

BROADCAST PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR AWARD
A Giant's Welcome to Northern Ireland - Part 5 (Ed Finn/Virgin Media) (TV)
Postcards (Greg Dickinson/Telegraph Travel) (Podcast)
The Travel Diaries Podcast (Holly Rubenstein/The Travel Diaries)
Planet Sail (Matthew Sheahan/ Founder and Producer) (TV)
The Travel Show BBC TV "IRELAND SPECIAL" (Rajan Datar/BBC) 

CONSUMER MAGAZINE TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by: Princess Cruises
Breathe Magazine
Cosmopolitan
Good Housekeeping
Prima
Vanity Fair

EXCLUSIVE OF THE YEAR AWARD
What really happened in Verbier (Abi Butcher/Daily Telegraph)
NHS App Blunder leaves Holidaymakers in Limbo (Jacob Lewis/iNews)
Four out of Five of the UK's Top Airlines gave Holidaymakers Incorrect Covid Advice (James Draven/Which?)
Paul Tudor Jones, the Billionaire Hedge-funder, on his Conservation work in Africa (Lisa Grainger/The Times)
EasyJet Holidays puts Packages on Sale through Travel Agents (Lucy Huxley and Juliet Dennis/Travel Weekly) 

TRADE STAFF WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Abra Dunsby (Features Editor, TTG)
April Hutchinson (Editor, TTG Luxury)
Beverley Fearis (Editor, The Business Travel Magazine)
Ian Taylor (Executive Editor, Travel Weekly)
Katie McGonagle ex Features & Supplements Editor, Travel Weekly (Editor, Cruise International) 

SUSTAINABILITY WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsored by: Tourism Australia
Catherine Mack
Holly Tuppen
Juliet Kinsman
Phoebe Smith
Sarah Marshall
Tamsin Wressell 

TRAVEL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsored by: Gran Canaria
Food and Travel
JRNY
National Geographic Traveller UK
OutThere
SUITCASE 

SPECIALIST TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsored by battleface 

Adrian Philips
Ian Belcher
Michelle Jana Chan
Nigel Tisdall
Jane Knight
Juliet Rix 

TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR AWARD
Selling Travel
TTG
TravelMole
Travel Gossip News
Travel Weekly

CONSUMER STAFF WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsored by: Hyatt
Benjamin Parker (Content Editor/ The Telegraph)
Chris Haslam (Chief Travel Writer/ The Sunday Times)
Greg Dickinson (Senior Travel Writer/ The Telegraph)
Lisa Minot (Head of Travel/The Sun)
Liz Edwards (Commissioning Editor, Travel, The Times and The Sunday Times)
Tom Robbins (Travel Editor /The Financial Times)

FREELANCE WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsored by: Switzerland Tourism
Antonia Windsor
Christopher Beanland
Ianthe Butt
Jamie Lafferty
Mike MacEacheran 

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsored by: Destination Canada
Daily Mail
The Independent
Metro Newspaper
Sunday Times Travel
Telegraph Travel

THE INFLUENCER CATEGORIES

INFLUENCER RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Alessia Vurchio and Antonio Maisto (Italian Trip Abroad)
Dan Garlick (NottsNomad)
Jacquie Hale (Flashpacking Family)
Michelle Attard (@COCONUTODYSSEY)
Tania Zorrilla and Adam Stocker (Jits into the Sunset) 

BLOGGER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Brock and Betty Jeffrey (Brock & Betty)
Claire Robinson (Weekend Candy)
Cory and G (You Could Travel)
Paul Healy and Mark Barnes (Anywhere We Roam)
Sion and Ben Walton-Guest (The Globetrotter Guys)  

VLOGGER OF THE YEAR AWARD
David Reilly and Alicia Reilly (Life of Reilly)
Farrukh Younus and Dr Shagufta Ahmed (Implausibleblog)
Mansoureh Farahani (Travel with Mansoureh)
Michele Frolla (The Intrepid Guide)
Tania Zorrilla and Adam Stocker (Jits into the Sunset) 

INFLUENCER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sponsor: Croatian National Tourist Board
Abigail King (Inside the Travel Lab)
Cathy Bartrop (travelguru.tv)
Chloe Gunning (Wanderlust Chloe)
Paul Johnson (A Luxury Travel Blog)
Sophie Davis (Sophie's Suitcase) 

THE PR CATEGORIES

PR RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Daniel Jones (Finn Partners Travel)
Daniel Machado-Gibbs (ex Avia Reps, now LOTUS)
Hannah Carlisle (Rooster)
Madeline Schilg (Siren Communications)
Matilda Haymes (LOTUS) 

DIGITAL PR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR AWARD
AM+A Marketing & Media Relations (#CheersFromCzech/Czech Tourism)
Finn Partners (Now vs. Later/Polish Tourist Office)
G Adventures (Stop, Unlearn and Retravel/G Adventures)
LOTUS (Launch of AIRE Ancient Baths London)
SLC Representation (Quokka TV/ Tourism Western Australia)

PR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Finn Partners Travel (Covid Survival Campaign/Advantage Travel Partnership)
LOTUS & Battleface - The Battleface Barometer & Launch of Space Insurance
Mason Rose (Introducing Airelles/ Les Airelles)
MMGY Global UK (Hotel Week London/ Collective of London Hotels)
The PC Agency (Quash Quarantine/Red Savannah and PC Agency) 

IN-HOUSE PR TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD
British Airways Holidays
Kuoni
Saint Lucia Tourism Authority
VisitEngland
VisitScotland 

PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARD
Finn Partners Travel
Four Communications
Heaven Publicity
LOTUS
Siren Communications 

PR PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARD
Frank Marr (Managing Director and Co-Founder, AM+A Marketing and Media Relations)
Nadia Walford (PR Specialist for Luxury Travel, Nadia Walford PR)
Olivia Lewis (Associate Vice President - Sustainability at Finn Partners Travel)
Paul Charles (CEO, The PC Agency)
Rachel O'Reilly (Director of Communications, Kuoni)

Ends

For information on TravMedia Awards 2021:

Louise Napier

Regional Director, TravMedia UK

T: +44 (0)20 3440 8915

E: louise.napier@travmedia.com

EDITORS' NOTES

The TravMedia Awards are owned and operated by TravMedia UK, the company operating TravMedia.com in the UK and Ireland. TravMedia is a global social network connecting the travel industry with the media and connects PR professionals from over 3000 tourism and travel brands with over 25,000 journalists and influencers worldwide.

The technology used by TravMedia 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.

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

The site 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.

TravMedia operates the worldwide event IMM (International Media Marketplace), a market-leading exhibition-style event connecting the travel industry with journalists and influencers.

The first-ever IMM was held in London in March 2013 and has since expanded to all corners of the earth, with annual events now taking place in countries including the USA, Australia, Germany, and France. IMM in the UK features two days of meetings, professional development sessions and breakout networking events. The next IMM in the UK will take place in London from 14-15 March 2022, with over 100 top travel and tourism brands already booked in to the event.