Winners revealed at gala dinner at The Londoner, Leicester Square | Tom Robbins secures Travel Writer of the Year, Simon Calder is honoured with Outstanding Contribution Award, and The Telegraph lands National Newspaper Travel Section of the Year.

The winners of the TravMedia Awards were tonight announced by celebrity Sue Perkins at a packed gala dinner in London, with Tom Robbins, the FT's Travel Editor securing Travel Writer of the Year, Simon Calder honoured with an Outstanding Contribution Award for his output during the pandemic, and Telegraph Travel landing the fiercely contested National Newspaper Travel Section of the Year.

Elsewhere, Paul Charles became PR Professional of the Year, FINN Partners won PR Agency of the Year and Chloe Gunning won Influencer of the Year.

The event, attended by over 250 journalists, PRs, influencers, and industry executives at the brand-new Londoner hotel in Leicester Square, saw Sue Perkins announce winners across 24-hotly contested Awards.

Robbins achieved the ultimate accolade of Travel Writer of the Year after securing the Award for Consumer Staff Writer of the Year earlier in the evening.  Freelance journalist Michelle Jana Chan won Highly Commended in the Travel Writer of the Year category, following her win in Specialist Travel Writer of the Year, for her “Kindness of Strangers” series in the Telegraph.

In the remaining media sections Antonia Windsor won Freelance Writer of the Year; Phoebe Smith was voted Sustainability Writer of the Year and April Hutchinson, Editor of TTG Luxury, was announced as the Trade Staff Writer of the Year.

James Draven from Which? landed Exclusive of the Year, while freelance writer Adam Turner secured Media Rising Star of the Year. Good Housekeeping won Consumer Magazine Travel Section, while brand-new title JRNY landed Travel Magazine of the Year. TTG was voted Trade Publication of the Year, and Holly Rubenstein's The Travel Diaries Podcast achieved Broadcast Programme of the Year. 

In the remaining PR categories, G Adventures won Digital Campaign of the Year;  VisitEngland landed In-House Team of the Year; LOTUS together with its client battleface secured PR Campaign of the Year, and the agency's Matilda Haymes was named PR Rising Star of the Year.

The remaining influencer categories saw Michele Frolla (The Intrepid Guide) win Vlogger of the Year; Paul Healy and Mark Barnes (Anywhere We Roam) land Blogger of the Year, and Jacquie Hale (Flashpacking Family), become the Influencer Rising Star of the Year.

Sponsors of the Awards include battleface, Switzerland Tourism, Gran Canaria Tourist Board, Croatian National Tourist Office, Destination Canada, Hyatt, Princess Cruises, Tourism Australia, and visitPITTSBURGH all thanked by TravMedia UK's deputy managing director Louise Napier for their generous support.

The night started with a champagne reception, followed by the Awards where sponsor tables hosted category finalists as the evening's big wins were revealed. The night climaxed with a live band performance and dinner attendees dancing into the early hours.

Said Henry Hemming, Managing Director of TravMedia UK: “Naturally we congratulate all our winners, but this is an occasion to celebrate the work of everyone who entered. The quality of the entry was outstanding given the challenges our industry faced with the pandemic during the Award's entry period. The entries are testimony to the inspiration and creativity our community summoned up during the most challenging period of their working lives. If any industry deserves to be the world's economic megastar during the year ahead, it surely must be travel.”

“Joining together with everyone at tonight's massive celebration will linger long in the memory.”

"Our aim with these Awards, which premiered in 2020, was to set a new bar in recognising the finest talent in travel journalism, PR and influence. We've strived to ensure the greatest possible quality of entries, so that come Awards night we end up with meritorious winners whose accomplishments should rightly be acknowledged.”

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. 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 were 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 UK AWARDS – THE WINNERS

THE SPECIAL AWARDS

 

TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Tom Robbins, Travel Editor, Financial Times

Highly Commended: Michelle Jana Chan, Freelance Travel Writer

 

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Simon Calder: Travel Correspondent, Writer and Broadcaster

 

THE MEDIA CATEGORIES

 

MEDIA RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsored by: Visit Pittsburgh

WINNER: Adam Turner

FINALISTS:

James March

Jessica Vincent

Portia Jones

Richard Collett

 

BROADCAST PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: The Travel Diaries Podcast (Holly Rubenstein/The Travel Diaries)

FINALISTS:

A Giant's Welcome to Northern Ireland - Part 5 (Ed Finn/Virgin Media) (TV)

Postcards (Greg Dickinson/Telegraph Travel) (Podcast)

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

WINNER: Good Housekeeping

FINALISTS:

Breathe

Cosmopolitan

Prima

Vanity Fair

 

EXCLUSIVE OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Four out of Five of the UK's Top Airlines gave Holidaymakers Incorrect Covid Advice (James Draven/Which?)

FINALISTS:

What really happened in Verbier (Abi Butcher/Daily Telegraph)

NHS App Blunder leaves Holidaymakers in Limbo (Jacob Lewis/iNews)

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

WINNER: April Hutchinson (Editor, TTG Luxury)

FINALISTS:

Abra Dunsby (Features Editor, TTG)

Beverley Fearis (Editor, The Business Travel Magazine)

Ian Taylor (Executive Editor, Travel Weekly)

Katie McGonagle ex Features & Supplements Editor, Travel Weekly (now Cruise International)

 

SUSTAINABILITY WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsored by: Tourism Australia

WINNER: Phoebe Smith

FINALISTS:

Catherine Mack

Holly Tuppen

Juliet Kinsman

Sarah Marshall

Tamsin Wressell

 

TRAVEL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsored by: Gran Canaria

WINNER: JRNY

FINALISTS:

Food and Travel

National Geographic Traveller UK

OutThere

SUITCASE

 

SPECIALIST TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Michelle Jana Chan

FINALISTS:

Adrian Philips

Ian Belcher

Nigel Tisdall

Jane Knight

Juliet Rix

 

TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: TTG

FINALISTS:

Selling Travel

TravelMole

Travel Gossip News

Travel Weekly

 

CONSUMER STAFF WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsored by: Hyatt

WINNER: Tom Robbins (Travel Editor /The Financial Times)

FINALISTS:

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)

 

FREELANCE WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsored by: Switzerland Tourism

WINNER: Antonia Windsor

FINALISTS:

Christopher Beanland

Ianthe Butt

Jamie Lafferty

Mike MacEacheran

 

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsored by: Destination Canada

WINNER: Telegraph Travel

FINALISTS:

Daily Mail

The Independent

Metro Newspaper

Sunday Times Travel

 

 

THE INFLUENCER CATEGORIES

 

INFLUENCER RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Jacquie Hale (Flashpacking Family)

FINALISTS:

Alessia Vurchio and Antonio Maisto (Italian Trip Abroad)

Dan Garlick (NottsNomad)

Michelle Attard (@COCONUTODYSSEY)

Tania Zorrilla and Adam Stocker (Jits into the Sunset)

 

BLOGGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Paul Healy and Mark Barnes (Anywhere We Roam)

FINALISTS:

Brock and Betty Jeffrey (Brock & Betty)

Claire Robinson (Weekend Candy)

Cory and G (You Could Travel)

Sion and Ben Walton-Guest (The Globetrotter Guys)

 

VLOGGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Michele Frolla (The Intrepid Guide)

FINALISTS:

David Reilly (Life of Reilly)

Farrukh Younus and Dr Shagufta Ahmed (Implausibleblog)

Mansoureh Farahani (Travel with Mansoureh)

Tania Zorrilla and Adam Stocker (Jits into the Sunset)

 

INFLUENCER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sponsor: Croatian National Tourist Board

WINNER: Chloe Gunning (Wanderlust Chloe)

FINALISTS:

Abigail King (Inside the Travel Lab)

Cathy Bartrop (travelguru.tv)

Paul Johnson (A Luxury Travel Blog)

Sophie Davis (Sophie's Suitcase)

 

 

THE PR CATEGORIES

 

PR RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Matilda Haymes (LOTUS)

FINALISTS:

Daniel Jones (Finn Partners Travel)

Daniel Machado-Gibbs (ex Avia Reps, now LOTUS)

Hannah Carlisle (Rooster)

Madeline Schilg (Siren Communications)

 

DIGITAL PR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: G Adventures (Stop, Unlearn and Retravel/G Adventures)

FINALISTS:

AM+A Marketing & Media Relations (#CheersFromCzech/Czech Tourism)

Finn Partners (Now vs. Later/Polish Tourist Office)

LOTUS (Launch of AIRE Ancient Baths London)

SLC Representation (Quokka TV/ Tourism Western Australia)

 

PR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: LOTUS & BATTLEFACE - The Battleface Barometer & Launch of Space Insurance

FINALISTS:

Finn Partners Travel (Covid Survival Campaign/Advantage Travel Partnership)

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

WINNER: VisitEngland

FINALISTS:

British Airways Holidays

Kuoni

Saint Lucia Tourism Authority

VisitEngland

VisitScotland

 

PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Finn Partners Travel

FINALISTS:

Four Communications

Heaven Publicity

LOTUS

Siren Communications

 

PR PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARD

WINNER: Paul Charles (CEO, The PC Agency)

FINALISTS:

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)

Rachel O'Reilly (Director of Communications, Kuoni)

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For information on TravMedia Awards 2022:

Louise Napier

Deputy Managing Director, TravMedia UK

T: +44 (0)20 3440 8915

E: louise.napier@travmedia.com

TRAVMEDIA: 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 3,000 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 editor 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 and Sydney in March 2013 and has since expanded to all corners of the earth, with annual events now taking place in countries including the USA, Singapore, Australia, Germany, and France. IMM in the UK features two days of meetings, professional development sessions and breakout networking events. The latest IMM in the UK took place in London from 14-15 March 2022, with over 100 top travel and tourism brands booked for the event.