The Travel Media Awards 2015 ceremony took place on Monday 9 November at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London. The event was attended by over 225 people, with representatives from the UK’s leading travel media and industry organisations present.
The evening saw 20 publications, broadcasters, journalists and photographers collect a prestigious award, representing the very best of the UK travel media.
The Travel Media Awards were created in recognition of the hugely influential role that today’s travel media play in the holiday or business travel decision-making process. For 2015 submissions were judged by some of the UK’s most influential travel industry figures alongside leading travel writers and editors. Categories covered a wide range of disciplines and media, from national newspaper travel sections, with separate categories for tabloid and broadsheets, consumer travel magazines, both national and regional, travel trade titles, the increasingly influential travel blogging sector and travel guide books to list just a few.
The winners of the innaugral Travel Media Awards were announced on 9 November 2015 at a glamorous awards ceremony at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London.
The announcement followed extensive deliberation by panels of industry and media judges. A big thank you to all those who entered, and congratulations to the winners.
CONSUMER MAGAZINE TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
Stylist – View entry
CONSUMER TRAVEL PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine – View entry
CONSUMER TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR
Mark Stratton – View entry
CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR
EasyJet Traveller – Easyjet – View entry
NATIONAL BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
The Telegraph – View entry
NATIONAL CONSUMER TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR
‘On Sky Safari Across New Zealand’ by Damian Barr in The Sunday Times Magazines – View entry
NATIONAL TABLOID NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
Mail On Sunday – View entry
ONLINE CONSUMER TRAVEL PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
The Telegraph & Telegraph Travel Guides app – View entry
ONLINE TRAVEL TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
TravelMole – View entry
TRAVEL MEDIA INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGN & CONTENT OF THE YEAR
#LoveSabah campaign for Sabah Tourism and Royal Brunei Airlines by iambassador, Good Relations and Live Share Travel – View entry
REGIONAL PUBLICATION TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR
‘On the Road Again’ by Jon Hawkins in Escapism – View entry
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD
Simon Reeve – View entry
TRAVEL AND TOURISM PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Julian Claxton for ‘Ugandan Children’ in N Photo Magazine – View entry
TRAVEL BLOGGER AND VLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Kash Bhattacharya, budgettraveller.org – View entry
TRAVEL BROADCAST PROGRAMME – TV, RADIO, ONLINE
Photographing the world’s most dangerous church, Lonely Planet Traveller – View entry
TRAVEL GUIDE BOOK OF THE YEAR
Wild Guide – Southern and Eastern England – View entry
TRAVEL TRADE FEATURE OF THE YEAR
‘A Hair-raising Experience’ by Joanna Booth in Aspire Magazine – View entry
TRAVEL TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Selling Travel – View entry
TRAVEL TRADE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Sophie Griffiths, TTG – View entry
YOUNG TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR
Hannah Summers, Escapism – View entry
CONSUMER MAGAZINE TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
Bird Watching
Candis
Harper’s Baazar UK
Marie Claire
Stylist
CONSUMER TRAVEL PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Condé Nast Traveller
Escapism
Family Traveller
Food and Travel
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
CONSUMER TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR
Mark Stratton, Freelance
Martin Hemming, The Sunday Times
Nick Redman, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Graeme Green, Freelance
Anthony Peregrine, Freelance
CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR
Compass – Cox & Kings
EasyJet Traveller – Easyjet
Excelente – Iberia
High Life – British Airways
N by Norwegian – Norwegian
NATIONAL BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
The Sunday Telegraph – Discover
The Telegraph
The Independent
The Sunday Times
The Times
NATIONAL CONSUMER TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR
Damian Barr for ‘On Sky Safari Across New Zealand’ in The Sunday Times Magazine
Ed Grenby for ‘Manhattan Transfer’ in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Jeremy Seal for ‘Back to Iran’ in Ultratravel
Andrew Eames for ‘Ice ‘N’ Easy’ in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Helen Rumbelow for ‘How to put the wild back into camping’ in The Times
NATIONAL TABLOID NEWSPAPER TRAVEL SECTION OF THE YEAR
Daily Mirror
Mail On Sunday
The Daily Star
The Sun
ONLINE CONSUMER TRAVEL PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Marie Claire – Marieclaire.co.uk
Passport Stamps – Passportstamps.uk
The Telegraph Travel – telegraph.co.uk/travel & Travel Guides app
Cruise Critic – Cruisecritic.co.uk
World Travel Guide – Worldtravelguide.net
ONLINE TRAVEL TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Business Travel News – btnews.co.uk
Travelmole – travelmole.com
Travel Weekly Business: AM – travelweekly.co.uk/getbusinessam
Tnooz – Tnooz.com
TRAVEL MEDIA INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGN & CONTENT OF THE YEAR
‘National Ferry Fortnight 2015’ campaign for Discover Ferries, by Fourbgb, Ferry Freedom
‘#LoveSabah’ campaign for Sabah Tourism and Royal Brunei Airlines, by iambassador and Good Relations
‘Spain: 100 Regional Gourmet Secrets’ campaign for the Spanish Tourist Office, by Food and Travel Magazine
‘Godmother of the Seas’ campaign for Royal Caribbean, by Travel Weekly
REGIONAL PUBLICATION TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR
Mark Nicholls for ‘All Aboard’ in Places and Faces
Mike Pickup for ‘Canada’ in Eaux
Cindy-Lou Dale for ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ in Aspect County
Jon Hawkins for ‘On the Road Again’ in Escapism
Karen Bowerman for ‘A Royal Welcome’ in Vantage Magazine
TRAVEL AND TOURISM PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Philip Lee Harvey for ‘Journey Into Namibia’ in Conde Nast Traveller
Nigel Tisdall for ‘Canada Northwest Passage Cruise’ in Financial Times
Julian Claxton for ‘Ugandan Children’ in N Photo Magazine
Katy Morrison for ‘Komodo National Park’ in Etihad Inflight
Renato Granieri for ‘The Beautiful South’ for The Press Association
TRAVEL BLOGGER AND VLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Becki Enright – bordersofadventure.com
Kash Bhattacharya – budgettraveller.org
Simon Busch – travelsupermarket.com/blog
Stuart Forster – go-eat-do.com
Victoria Brewood – pommietravels.com
TRAVEL GUIDE BOOK OF THE YEAR
Lonely Planet – Make My Day London
Bradt – North Devon and Exmoor
Rough Guide – Myanmar
Cicerone – Walking The Wales Coast Path
Wild Guide – Southern and Eastern England
TRAVEL TRADE FEATURE OF THE YEAR
Stuart Forster for ‘Take me to the River’ in ABTA Magazine
Joanna Booth for ‘A Hair-raising Experience’ in Aspire Magazine
Emily Bamber for ‘Animal Welfare’ in ABTA Magazine, WTM Dailies
Chloe Cann for ‘Best-kept Secret’ in TTG
Colette Doyle for ‘All Aboard for Luxury’ in PA Life
TRAVEL TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Selling Travel
Aspire Magazine
TTG
TTG Luxury
Travel Weekly
TRAVEL TRADE WRITER OF THE YEAR
Andy Hoskins, The Business Travel Magazine
Rupert Murray, Aspire Magazine
Katherine Lawrey, TTG
Kevin May, Tnooz.com
Sophie Griffiths, TTG
YOUNG TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR
Rose Dykins, Freelance
Lottie Gross, Rough Guides
Zoe Mcintyre, Freelance
Hannah Summers, Escapism
Ben Clatworthy, Freelance
TRAVEL BROADCAST PROGRAMME – TV, RADIO, ONLINE
Swimming in Iran, BBC From Our Own Correspondent
The BBC Travel Show
BA City Guide: Vancouver
Bahamas Mailboats, BBC From Our Own Correspondent
Photographing the world’s most dangerous church, Lonely Planet Traveller Magazine
Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike, BBC Four
All of the categories within the 2015 Travel Media Awards were be judged by a panel of travel industry leaders, combined with members of the travel media, providing for a unique assessment of entries, leading to only the very best in class winning a coveted “Media Awards Trophy”.
In the interests of transparency, travel media judges assessed non-conflicting categories, so consumer travel magazine editors or guide book publishers didn’t judge their own category.
Consumer Magazine Travel Section of the Year
Lucy Huxley, Editor-in-chief, Travel Weekly Group
Claire Hancer, Country Manager UK, Efteling
Hayley Smith, PR Manager, Skyscanner
Consumer Travel Publication of the Year
Lisa Minot, Travel Editor, The Sun
Victoria Kyme, PR Manager, German National Tourist Office
Sarah Hanan, Global Sales Director, Cheapflights
Consumer Travel Writer of the Year
Pippa Jacks, Editor, TTG
Sarah Barnett, PR & Communications Director, Brand USA
Sarah Gaze, General Manager Trade Relations, Eurostar
Customer Magazine of the Year
Peter Grunert, Editor, Lonely Planet Traveller
Laurence Hicks, UK Managing Director, Wendy Wu Tours
Connie Georgiou, Head of International Strategic Accounts, AVIS
National Broadsheet Newspaper Travel Section of the Year
Lyn Hughes, Co-Founder & Editor-In-Chief, Wanderlust
Ben Todd, Head of Communications, Thomas Cook
Colin Brodie, Director UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, Visit Florida
National Consumer Travel Feature of the Year
Adrian Phillips, Managing Director, Bradt Travel Guides
Emma Tagg, Senior PR Manager, lastminute.com
Ted Wake, Director Of Sales, Kirker Holiday
National Tabloid Newspaper Travel Section of the Year
Pat Riddell, Editor, National Geographic Traveller (UK)
Ruth Spratt, Head Of Sales, EasyJet
Michael English, Head of Business Development, Celebrity Cruises
Online Consumer Travel Publication of the Year
Rhiannon Batten, Travel Editor, Olive
Steve Campion, Managing Director, Holiday Discount Centre
Olly Wenn, Managing Director, Zolv
Online Travel Trade Publication of the Year
Kate Russell, Freelance Journalist
Louise Newton, Marketing Manager, Inghams
Kylie Mather, Partner, Travlaw
Regional Publication Travel Feature of the Year
Matthew Hampton, Deputy Travel Editor, The Sun
Kieran Tobin, Regional Sales Director, Destinations of the World
Tony Seaman, Group Sales and Marketing Director, Attraction World
Travel & Tourism Photography Award
Matt Carroll, Executive Creative Director, Hangar Seven
Emma Tagg, Senior PR Manager, lastminute.com
Kieran Tobin, Regional Sales Director, Destinations of the World
Travel Blogger and Vlogger of the Year
Dale Templar, Managing Director, One Tribe TV
Kate Bates, Head of PR, dosomethingdifferent.com
Gary Anslow, Sales Director, Monarch Travel Group
Travel Broadcast Programme of the Year – TV, Radio, online
Chris Leadbeater, Freelance Journalist
Jules Kerby, Director of Corporate Communications, Europe, Hilton Hotels
Francine Sheridan, Regional director, LA Tourism & Convention Board
Travel Guide Book of the Year
Ed Grenby, Editor, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Alexandra Reick, Head of PR & Marketing, lastminute.com
Andrew Crowe, Sales & Marketing Director, Direct Ferries
Travel Media Innovative Campaign & Content of the Year
Danny Rogers, Editor-in-chief, PR Week
Adam Fraiel, Editor, Allaboardthefraytrain
Paul Lacey, Head of UK Sales, Rail Europe
Travel Trade Feature of the Year
Guy Woodward, Acting Deputy Editor, Harrods
Chloe Berman, PR Manager UK and Europe, Intrepid Group
Julie Brooker, Head Of Sales, Trafalgar Tours
Travel Trade Publication of the Year
Sarah Marshall, Travel Editor, Press Association
Adam Finch, CEO, Covermore
Martin Greig, Head of PR, Visit London
Travel Trade Writer of the Year
Peter Grunert, Editor, Lonely Planet Traveller
Greg Ward, Vice President Sales, Shangri La
Mark Boulle, Marketing Manager Beachcomber Tours
Young Travel Writer of the Year
Jonathan Lorie, Director, Travellers’ Tales
Chloe Berman, PR Manager UK and Europe, Intrepid Group
Nick Wilkinson, Head of Sales for NCL
The advisory panel consisted of leading travel businesses and specialist travel PR companies, and played a key role in shaping the awards.
They also provided invaluable knowledge and insight into the travel media sector, and to establishing the Awards as must enter event for all travel writers, broadcaster and photographers.
Jonathan Sloan is the Managing Director of Hills Balfour, a full service representation agency specialising in the tourism industry.
Debbie Flynn is the founder and CEO of Brighter Group, one of the UK’s leading travel, hospitality and tourism public relations and representation agencies, now in it’s 20th year.
Maria Pieri is the Editorial Director for APL Media, a specialist travel and lifestyle content media provider, whose titles include the flagship title National Geographic Traveller (UK) and ABTA Magazine.
Jill Duffell is PR Manager UK / Northern Europe at Tourism Australia. Prior to TA she was PR Manager for VisitEngland.
Howard Salinger is regional director for TravMedia, the UK’s leading online news service for travel journalists.
With more than 20 years’ experience in travel and leisure PR, Rachel has a track record of success working for some of the leading brands in travel.
Fiona is Director of Public Relations for Cellet Marketing and PR, one of the UK’s foremost marketing agencies within the travel and tourism sector.
Debbie Hindle is the managing director of Four bgb, the UK’s leading travel marketing and public relations communications agency. She has been listed as one of the top 100 most influential women in leisure and hospitality.
