In 2008, the British Guild of Travel Writers chose to give their highest award to Jim Dunn, for his services to travel PR.

The career of Jim Dunn is a classic rags to riches tale. He can be credited with single-handedly creating the concept of travel public relations. From an underprivileged background in post-war Gourock, his life quite literally 'took off' when he got his first job on Travel Trade Gazette. The fact that he admits he couldn't type, write, or understand one end of PR from the other didn't stop him from creating the UK's leading travel and leisure PR consultancy in 1970.

Contemporary travel writers benefited from numerous press trips to destinations as diverse as Benidorm and Hong Kong; and as such these accounts flourished under the aegis of Travel Press Services and latterly Fleet PR. Jim (seated on the left) has 40 years' experience in journalism and public relations and extensive knowlege of advising in the corporate, travel and leisure, entertainment, property and financial sectors.

His current business interest is a small group of luxury hotels in Europe but he still keeps his hand in at writing and contributes a regular column on his travels around the world. His first books was entitled 'Successful Public Relations'; and recently his autobiography 'Very Private and Public Relations' – a scurrilous, witty and painfully honest account of his colourful life – has received rave reviews.