Each year, the British Guild of Travel Writers organises two prestigious awards schemes: the BGTW International Tourism Awards and the BGTW Members’ Excellence Awards.
About the BGTW Awards
Launched over 40 years ago, the BGTW International Tourism Awards scheme recognises excellence in tourism projects. There are three categories:
- Best UK and Ireland Tourism Project
- Best Europe Tourism Project
- Best Wider World Tourism Project
The voting has ended and the finalists of the the BGTW International Tourism Awards for 2023, partnered by Sri Lanka Tourism, have been announced. The full details can be found here.
The BGTW Members’ Excellence Awards recognise the best in travel writing, photography, blogging and broadcasting. For 2023, there are 16 categories, 12 categories for individual pieces of work, and four requiring a portfolio of four pieces of work:
- Travel Feature of the Year – UK
- Travel Feature of the Year – Europe
- Travel Feature of the Year – Wider World
- Travel Feature of the Year – regional, specialist and trade media
- Sustainability Feature of the Year – NEW
- Specialist Travel Feature of the Year – The Bryn Frank Award
- Transport Feature of the Year – The Kenneth Westcott-Jones Award
- Travel Guide Book of the Year
- Travel Narrative Book of the Year – The Adele Evans Award
- Travel Photo Feature of the Year
- Travel Blog Post of the Year
- Travel Broadcast of the Year
- BGTW Travel Blogger of the Year
- BGTW Travel Broadcaster of the Year
- BGTW Photographer of the Year
- BGTW Travel Writer of the Year
- BGTW Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Journalism – The Dr Melissa Shales Award
The winners will be announced at the BGTW Annual Gala Awards Dinner to be held in Middle Temple Hall, London on Sunday evening, 5 November 2023.
Tickets are £199 (+ VAT) and can be purchased by clicking the “Buy Tickets” button below. There are still opportunities to sponsor/partner individual categories in the Members’ Excellence Awards and if you are interested in the sponsorship opportunities, select the “Sponsorship” button for more information.
Note that the names of some awards have changed over the years and that in some years, the award wasn’t presented. There were no awards in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BGTW Members’ Excellence Awards
Travel Feature of the Year – UK
2019 James Stewart
2020 Nigel Tisdall
2022 Lorna Parkes
Travel Feature of the Year – Europe
2018 Ben Lerwill
2019 Adrian Phillips
2020 Adrian Phillips (combined with Wider World)
2022 James Stewart
Travel Feature of the Year – Wider World
2018 Adrian Phillips
2019 Jon Holmes
Travel Feature of the Year – regional, specialist and trade media
2019 Mike Unwin (Short read)
2020 Meera Dattani
2022 Ben Lerwill
Specialist Travel Feature of the Year – the Bryn Frank Award
2020 Sue Watt
2022 Jessica Vincent
Transport Feature of the Year – The Kenneth Westcott-Jones Award
2018 Tristan Rutherford
2019 Emma Thomson
2020 James Stewart
2022 Sue Watt
Travel Guidebook of the Year
2018 James Lowen
2019 Hilary Bradt
2022 James Rushforth
Travel Narrative Book of the Year – The Adele Evans Award
2018 Brian Jackman
2020 Emma John
2022 Tharik Hussain
Travel Photo Feature of the Year
2020 Simon Urwin
2022 Simon Urwin
Travel Blog Post of the Year
2020 Bella Falk
2022 Paul Healy
Travel Broadcast of the Year
2020 Cassam Looch
2022 Ash Bharwaj
BGTW Travel Blogger of the Year
2018 Kirstie Pelling
2019 Kirstie Pelling
2020 Richard Collett
2022 Paul Healy
BGTW Travel Broadcaster of the Year
2019 Adrian Phillips
2020 Aaron Millar
2022 Simon Parker
BGTW Photographer of the Year
2018 James Rushforth
2019 James Rushforth
2020 James Rushforth
2022 James Rushforth
BGTW Travel Writer of the Year
2018 Adrian Phillips
2019 Emma Thomson
2020 James Stewart
2022 Emma Thomson
BGTW International Tourism Awards 2023
Best UK and Ireland Tourism Project
2018 Being Brunel, Bristol
2019 Walthamstow Wetlands, London
2020 Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy, The Box, Plymouth, Devon
2022 Holocaust Galleries, IWM, London
Best Europe Tourism Project
2018 Electric Hybrid Cruise Boat, Championing Responsible Tourism, Backwaters Tours, France
2019 The CWGC Experience – Commonwealth War Graves Commission,
Beaurains, Arras, France
2020 Juliana Hiking Trail, Slovenia
2022 High Scardus Trail, The Balkans
Best Wider World Tourism Project
2018 Waitukubull National Trail, Clearance and Restoration, Segment 11, Dominica
2019 Black Lemur Camp, Madagascar
2020 Partition Museum, Amritsar, Punjab, India
2022 Community Rhino Conservation Initiative, Zimbabwe
Armchair Award
2020 Visit Faroe Islands: Realtime Tour, Live Guide