The 2025 Travel Media Awards Step Up internship, aimed at improving diversity and inclusion for underrepresented youth, has successfully completed its summer placements. Five talented individuals — Kinza Chaudry, Sophie Colson, Daniella Dhorasoo, Lillie-Rose Lenga-Kroma and Jenna Stevens — have made their mark across the travel media industry.

Now in its second year, the TMA Step Up initiative offers internships to five individuals in travel journalism and public relations through placements at 10 prominent organisations: APL Media, easyJet holidays, FINN Partners, Ink Global, Intrepid Travel, Kuoni, Metro, TTG Media, The Sun and Virgin Atlantic. In 2025, applications to the programme increased by an impressive 262%.

Maria Pieri, co-founder of the Travel Media Awards, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the achievements and dedication shown by this year’s TMA Step Up interns. Their enthusiasm, creativity and professionalism have already made a tangible difference within our industry and it’s inspiring to see their confidence and skills grow across such a short period. We look forward to seeing how they continue to shape the future of travel media.”

2025 Step Up interns

The interns spent four weeks learning travel journalism basics and four weeks on PR and communications. They gained essential skills in writing for various formats, networking with industry stakeholders and confidently navigating the travel media sector with guidance from experienced professionals.

Their progress and engagement in the industry is already evident:

• Kinza Chaudry, who worked with APL Media and FINN Partners, has already secured a full-time role in the sector at Travel PR.
• After spending four weeks at Intrepid Travel and TTG Media, Sophie Colson discovered her passion for B2B travel journalism.
• Daniella Dhorasoo’s placements at Kuoni and Ink Global have been followed by a three-month internship at Wanderlust.
• Lillie-Rose Lenga-Kroma’s experience at easyJet holidays and Metro bolstered her digital and social media journalism skillset as she completes her final year of university.
• Jenna Stevens, who undertook placements at The Sun and Virgin Atlantic, continues to do shifts for national newspapers, writing exclusive print and digital features.

Next steps and Travel Media Awards

Following the placements, each intern is receiving six months of mentorship from travel editors and PR professionals. They were also each given a ticket to the Travel Media Awards, which provides further opportunities to get embedded in the industry.

The awards, which celebrate excellence in travel media, were held on 13 October at the Pan Pacific London Hotel. The evening enabled the interns to meet the most successful and well-connected travel journalists, editors, PRs and more, helping them to forge professional relationships in the sector.

The Travel Media Awards Step Up will return in 2026, with applications opening later this year. The team is excited to continue working with the next generation of talented media professionals and supporting their endeavours within the travel media industry.

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Notes for the editors: The Travel Media Awards Step Up is an internship programme introduced in 2023 designed to promote diversity and inclusion within travel media among young people. The initiative is a collaboration of 10 organisations — APL Media, FINN Partners, Intrepid Travel, TTG Media, easyJet holidays, Ink Global, Kuoni, Metro, The Sun, and Virgin Atlantic — collectively providing five work placements to offer participants valuable industry experience. For more information on the TMA Step Up scheme, visit travelmediaawards.com or subscribe to the TMA Step Up newsletter here. The TMA Step Up team is contactable at stepup@travelmediaawards.com.