Welcome to the BGTW Annual Gala Awards 2022

I am really pleased to welcome you to the BGTW Annual Gala Awards 2022. It’s exciting to have a brand new format at a fantastic venue – the refurbished Riverside Studios right on the River Thames – and a chance to catch up with each other and celebrate the best of our industry tonight.

I want to say a big thanks to our sponsors, Hyatt Hotels, Explore Charleston and Riverside Studios. Hyatt is the first hotel sponsor in the history of this event and it’s a pleasure to welcome back Explore Charleston, who hosted our BGTW AGM & Convention in 2019, and sponsored our cocktail reception at last year’s event. We’re also really happy to be raising money for the Charitable Travel Fund and the amazing projects they have around the world.

A massive thanks to the BGTW Board, Secretariat and everyone else involved in putting the event together this year. It’s a huge effort and we are looking forward to an amazing evening of catching up with friends and colleagues, and making new ones. We have had so many new members join in the last year too and for some, it will be their first BGTW Annual Gala Awards event. We’re looking forward to finding out who’s won in our International Tourism Awards and Members’ Excellence Awards as well and celebrating the great and the good of our industry. Thanks to Stuart Render for coordinating the awards, and to all the judges who had a hard job selecting shortlists.

All that’s left is to enjoy the evening!

Meera

Meera Dattani
BGTW Chair
[email protected]

We’re very proud to introduce Hyatt as the first hotel sponsor in the history of the BGTW’s Annual Gala Awards.

With more than 1,150 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 72 countries across six continents in its portfolio, Hyatt is an exciting and fitting sponsor for this year’s BGTW Gala Awards’ theme, “A Taste of Travel”.

Hyatt has enjoyed considerable and considered growth, particularly throughout Europe over the last few years. Its loyalty program, World of Hyatt, has grown 65% over three years, and more than 70% of its portfolio are luxury lifestyle properties – spread across four outstanding collections: Timeless, Boundless, Independent, and Inclusive.

“Following our successful sponsorship of the BGTW AGM in Charleston in 2019, we wanted to develop our connection with the BGTW further. We are grateful for opportunities like the BGTW Annual Gala Awards 2022 to do just that.

Our partnership gives us a chance to share the Charleston story with top British media and increase awareness of the new and exciting things we are doing in our beautiful city. We are excited by the new format and the new venue steeped in British Media history right on the banks of the Thames.”

Doug Warner
Vice President of Media and Innovation
Explore Charleston

6.15pm

Sparkling Wine Reception
Networking & Canapés
Riverside Atrium

7pm

Welcome from the BGTW Chair, Meera Dattani
followed by
A message from Doug Warner, Explore Charleston
Melissa Tilling, Charitable Travel Fund

–

Presentation of the BGTW Outstanding Award for Contribution to Travel Journalism – The Dr Melissa Shales Award

Presentation of the BGTW International Tourism Awards

–

Live Preview Performance of Cages
Studio 2

followed by
Networking
Food & Drink
The Atrium

–

9.30pm

A message from Javier Aguila, Hyatt

Presentation of the BGTW Members’ Excellence Awards

and

The BGTW Raffle Prize Draw
in aid of
Charitable Travel Fund

–

Join us for last orders in the
Cages Bar
off the Riverside Atrium

–

11pm
Carriages

FOOD COURSE ONE

Magma Santorini Prawn Tempura

Vegan Tempura vegetables de 7Pines Ibiza

Great Scotland Yard Fish & Chips  

The Hyatt House Homemade Spring Roll (vegan)

Andaz Prague Bratwurst & Bun  

FOOD COURSE TWO

Thompson Madrid Paella / Risotto

Parma on Mash di 7Pines Sardinia

The Hyatt Place corn fritter and salsa (vegan)

Charleston slow cooked ribs

Párisi Udvar Budapest Roasted vegetable skewer with beetroot hummus (vegan)

Hotel du Palais Petit four – Traditional English fudge (and a vegan option)

The Charitable Travel Fund is a UK based charity working tirelessly to energise and galvanise the support of the global travel and tourism industry, and the travelling public. CTF work to provide tangible financial aid for communities in worldwide travel destinations that depend on tourism revenue but have little or no government welfare support when that income is threatened or extinguished by events beyond expectation or control. In essence, CTF support starts when tourism stops.

Tonight we will be raffling off 11 great prizes to support their efforts.

Raffle tickets are available from the CTF team in The Atrium. Buy yours now and don’t miss out on these superb prizes:

‘A Taste of Hyatt’. Five nights’ bed and breakfast for two at one of five Hyatt hotels – donated by Hyatt Hotels.
The choice of hotels is really rather remarkable: Thompson Madrid; Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht; Parisi Udvar Budapest; Alila Manggis (Bali); Alila Jabal Akhdar (Oman). The prize includes 20,000 World of Hyatt points for an activity of your choice and a complimentary culinary experience from Hyatt’s newly launched FIND platform. The prize is valid until December 2023.

Five nights half-board at the Hotel Mottaret in Meribel, France, donated by Ski France.
The prize is valid until April 2024.

A three-day, two-night self drive trip to Pas de Calais for two people, donated by Pas de Calais.
The prize includes two night’s accommodation, breakfast and dinner, plus a VIP wine tasting at Calais Vins, and a 50 euro voucher for your Grape Escape. The prize is valid until the end of 2023.

Two nights for two people at the Hotel AMANO Covent Garden, London.
The prize includes breakfast and rooftop drinks for two.

A Classic Champagne afternoon tea at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel on Park Lane, London.

A £100 Stay in a Pub voucher, donated by stayinapub.co.uk
redeemable against a stay in one of 1,450 boutique pubs, traditional coaching inns, and affordable pubs on stayinapub.co.uk

Five prizes of an annual subscription to National Geographic Traveller. That brings you 10 issues of Nat Geo Traveller and four issues of Food magazine delivered to your door. Each winner will also receive a Hydro Flask.

Since 1978, the BGTW has been giving out their own tourism awards. As well as recognising new popular initiatives, the membership also looked for projects which were both environmentally friendly and helped the local communities.  In this way, the Guild has lead the way in recognising the importance of promoting sustainable tourism initiatives. 

The BGTW International Tourism Awards (ITAs) recognise excellence in tourism projects around the world, nominated by our members. Some projects have cost millions and are well-publicised; others are simpler community projects that take just as much effort and love.

This year’s shortlists represent a range of innovative, noteworthy and exceptional projects that highlight the resilience of the industry, and all of the good work that has been done to promote tourism across the globe. 

Best Wider World Tourism Project	Nominating Member
Camino del Mayab (The Maya Way), Mexico	Richard Collett
Camping with Custodians – Djarindjin Campground, Western Australia	Nori Jemil
Community Rhino Conservation Initiative (CRCI), Zimbabwe	Sue Watt
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles, USA	Paul Wade
The Legacy Museum, Montgomery, USA	Stuart Forster
The National Museum of African American Music, Nashville, USA	Mary Moore Mason
Best Europe Tourism Project
Gozo In The House, Malta	Amy McPherson
High Scardus Trail, The Balkans	Rudolf Abraham
La Ruta del Vino de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands	Ross Clarke
Museum of Amber, Gdansk, Poland	Rupert Parker
ViaBerna, Switzerland	Rudolf Abraham
Best UK and Ireland Tourism Project
First Light Festival and East Point Pavilion, Lowestoft, England	Claire Boobbyer
Hermaness Hill Path and Welcome Area, Shetland Islands, Scotland	Diana Jarvis
Irish Museum of Time – Treasures of Timekeeping, Waterford, Ireland	Isabel Conway
Private Women-Led: Ethiopian Flavours in Shepherd’s Bush with Coffee Ceremony, London, England	Alicia Sheber
The Famous Blacksmiths Gretna Green Experience, Scotland	Vivien Devlin
The Holocaust Galleries, Imperial War Museum, London, England	Tina Ediss

The BGTW annual awards scheme recognises excellence across travel writing, blogging, broadcasting and photography. The ten individual awards and four portfolio awards were judged by more than 30 travel writers and other industry professionals from the UK and the BGTW’s sister travel writing organisations in the US and Australia.

TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR – UK

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TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR – NON-UK

Sponsored by Visit Scotland

TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR – REGIONAL AND SPECIALIST MEDIA

Sponsored by Great Scotland Yard Hotel – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt

SPECIALIST TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR – THE BRYN FRANK AWARD

Sponsored by Representation Plus

TRANSPORT FEATURE OF THE YEAR – THE KENNETH WESTCOTT-JONES AWARD

Sponsored by Travel Connection Group

TRAVEL GUIDE BOOK OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by ANTOR

TRAVEL NARRATIVE BOOK OF THE YEAR – THE ADELE EVANS AWARD

Sponsored by Scenario Two

TRAVEL PHOTO FEATURE OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Visit Mississippi

TRAVEL BLOG POST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Visit West (Visit Bristol and Visit Bath)

TRAVEL BROADCAST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Riverside Studios

BGTW TRAVEL BLOGGER OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Visit Alabama

BGTW TRAVEL BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Explore Cognac

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BGTW TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR

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