WINNING TRAVEL WRITERS TAKE READERS FROM TUSCANY TO A GREEN FUTURE

11 November 2007

Playing dominoes in the Caribbean, discovering the traditional Hawaii and the joys of upmarket camping were among the diverse stories featured in the British Guild of Travel Writers’ (BGTW) prestigious 2007 Members Awards.

Each year the BGTW presents awards for articles written by members. The winners are selected anonymously by an independent panel of judges. The winners were announced last night at the BGTW’s annual gala dinner held at the Savoy Hotel in London on the eve of World Travel Market. This year, the event was sponsored by Air Malta, Malta Tourism Authority and the Hotel Fortina Spa Resort.

For the second year running, Jack Barker won the BGTW Travel Writer of the Year Award for Major Contribution to Consumer Travel Writing sponsored by the Cancun Visitors and Convention Bureau, based on four articles that appeared in The Independent and Independent on Sunday with destinations from the Mekong to Liberty Island.

The runner-up was Donna Dailey. Her features, which appeared in Holiday, suite101.con, Travel Weekly and Real Holidays included an articles on Denver’s hippiest store and the Camargue.

The winners of the other awards, the featured destinations and media in which they appeared were:

Best destination article under 850 words

Sponsored by TravMedia.com

Norman Miller, Letter from Hawaii, Bee Woman, Fall 2006

Best UK feature over 850 words

Sponsored by Superbreak

Jeremy Seal, Call This a Tent? Sunday Telegraph, 6 May 2007

Best Euro [non UK] feature over 850 words

Sponsored by the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Lisa Gerard Sharp,, Mind your Language, Italia! July 2007

Best overseas non Euro feature over 850 words

Sponsored by Grenada Board of Tourism

William Gray, Going Bush, Wanderlust, November 2006

Best Trade / Business feature

Sponsored by The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau –

Sarah Monaghan, The Future’s Green, Gabon Magazine, September 2006

Kenneth Westcott Jones Memorial Award for Best Transport feature

Sponsored by Virgin Trains

Sarah Woods, Busman’s Holiday, Holiday, September 2006

Best Guidebook

Sponsored by First Public Relations

David Atkinson, Bolivia, published by Bradt Guides

Best narrative book

Sponsored by KBC PR and Marketing Ltd

Joe Cawley, More Ketchup than Salsa, published by Summersdale

Ed Lacy Memorial Award for Best Radio Feature

Sponsored by First Public Relations

Polly Rodger Brown, Dominoes Goes Home, BBC Radio 4, 8 June 2007

Photograph of the year

Sponsored by Jersey Tourism

Karoki Lewis, Garlanded Naga Sadhu, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, February 2007

Anne Gregg Memorial Award for Best Television Travel Feature

Sponsored by Oman Ministry of Tourism

Jeremy Head, Holidays Undercover, Lloret de Mar, ITV, August 2006

ENDS

Note to Editor: Photographs of the awards presentation can be downloaded from www.simply-photography.co.uk.

Founded in 1960, the British Guild of Travel Writers is an association of over 270 professional writers, editors, photographers, producers, radio and television presenters involved in the world of travel.

For further information contact:

Anna Selby

BGTW

Tel: 0207 740 6447