26 January 2020, London: The Travel Media Awards is pleased to announce this year’s winners, following a successful online event held on 25 January, attended virtually by representatives of the UK’s top travel media. At the event, 22 publications, broadcasters, journalists and photographers were each honoured with a prestigious award.  

Matthew Jackson, co-founder of the awards and managing director of APL Media, said: “The Travel Media Awards has seen an extremely high standard of entries once again, and our judges had some tough decisions to make. This has been such a challenging year for the industry and we’re proud to be able to congratulate all the winners and entrants in this online event.” 

Adventurer, author and photographer Levison Wood was honoured with The Special Contribution Award, which each year recognises someone who has made an extraordinary contribution to travel. Wood has visited over 100 countries, written seven bestselling books and produced six critically acclaimed documentaries.  

This year, the Travel Media Awards also acknowledged three Travel Media Champions — individuals who have raised awareness of the challenges faced by the travel industry throughout the Covid-19 crisis. The three chosen Travel Media Champion, selected by the Travel Media Awards’ advisory panel, are: Daily Mail travel editor Mark Palmer; Claire Irvin, head of travel at The Telegraph; and TTG editor Sophie Griffiths. Each has worked tirelessly to keep travel in the spotlight and consistently delivered a clear and concise message to their readers.  

Giles Harper, co-founder of the Travel Media Awards and Travega Managing Director, said: “Despite the very difficult events of the past year, we’re incredibly proud that entries to the awards continue to grow year-on-year: our newly introduced Sustainability Travel Feature of the Year received in excess of 100 entries alone. I’d like to thank our headline partner, Babble, for its support, the hundreds of entrants to the awards, our panel of around 60 travel industry and media judges, our sponsors and all those who joined us online. We look forward to seeing everyone for the 2021 awards on 18 October at the Kimpton Fitzroy London.” 

THE WINNERS 

TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR — PRINT 
TTG 

TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR — ONLINE 
TTG Media 

CONSUMER PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR – PRINT 
Wanderlust 

CONSUMER PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR – ONLINE 
The Independent 

NATIONAL CONSUMER FEATURE OF THE YEAR 
Monisha Rajesh ‘The godfather of trains’ The Guardian 

CONSUMER MAGAZINE SECTION OF THE YEAR 
Vanity Fair 

BLOGGER/VLOGGER OF THE YEAR 
Anywhere We Roam 

NATIONAL BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER SECTION 
The Daily Telegraph 

NATIONAL TABLOID NEWSPAPER SECTION 
The Sun 

SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE OF THE YEAR 
Paul Bloomfield ‘The Arctic: a new port of call?’ BBC Wildlife 

TRAVEL BROADCAST PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR — TV, RADIO, ONLINE OR PODCAST 
Earth Cycle, Prime Video/1080 Media TV 

PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 
Bella Falk 

REGIONAL PUBLICATION FEATURE OF THE YEAR 
Helen Warwick ‘City of surprises’ Cheshire Life 

BREAKING TRAVEL NEWS 
Francesca Street, CNN Travel 

GUIDE OF THE YEAR — BOOK, ONLINE, APP 
Curious Travel Guides — Lost in Florence 

YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR 
Lottie Gross 

CUSTOMER MAGAZINE 
Audley Traveller 

TRADE FEATURE OF THE YEAR 
James Draven ‘Ahead for heights’ TTG 

TRADE WRITER OF THE YEAR 
James Draven 

SPECIALIST TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR 
Sarah Reid 

CONSUMER WRITER OF THE YEAR 
Jamie Lafferty 

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
Levison Wood 

For more information, please visit travelmediaawards.com/winners-2020  or contact: T: 020 3818 5600 E: [email protected] 

Notes for editors 

The Travel Media Awards launched in 2015, celebrating the very best of the travel media sector. The awards was created in recognition of the hugely influential role that today’s travel media plays in the holiday and business travel decision-making process. Open to all travel writers, broadcasters and photographers, the awards is a true barometer of the travel media sector. The Travel Media Awards is owned and operated under a joint venture agreement between Travega and APL Media Limited. Please note, for the purposes of fairness and transparency, no travel titles by APL Media were entered into the awards. However, individual writers were permitted to submit their own work. A team of eight independent shortlisters narrowed down a final list of five finalists in each category and a panel of 61 travel industry and media experts decided the winners. travelmediaawards.com 

APL Media Limited works across the travel and lifestyle sectors in a number of media, from print through to events. APL Media produces the award-winning National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine, as well as National Geographic Traveller Food and a series of lifestyle newspaper supplements, apps and websites. aplmedia.co.uk 

Travega offers a wide range of travel marketing solutions to companies within both the leisure and business travel sectors, including revenue generation for some of the UK’s leading travel industry events, alongside bespoke event creation and third-party event management. travega.co.uk