Entries have now closed. It’s been a magnificent year for entries. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to get involved. Now the judging can start. We will announce this year’s finalists on 1 October.
The BGTW Members’ Excellence Awards (MEA) scheme recognises the very best work of members in travel writing, photography, blogging and broadcasting in a series of awards judged by UK and international travel industry professionals.
The categories
Awards recognising an individual piece of work:
- Travel Feature of the Year – UK
This award recognises written travel features that focus on the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) - Travel Feature of the Year – Europe
This award recognises written travel features that focus on Europe (non UK). - Travel Feature of the Year – Worldwide
This award recognises written travel features that focus on the wider world outside of Europe. - Travel Feature of the Year – regional, specialist and trade media
This award recognises travel features written specifically regional, specialist and trade media. - Sustainability Feature of the Year – NEW
This award recognises a piece of work (written feature, photo story, podcast, broadcast or blog post) that champions projects and tourism experiences that are rooted in genuinely sustainable practices. The award will be given to the piece that most successfully and creatively brings an understanding of the environmental, social and cultural context of a tourism experience to a wider audience. - Specialist Travel Feature of the Year – the Bryn Frank Award
This award recognises written travel features that focus on lifestyle, adventure, food, wellness or any specialism. Note that features focusing on sustainability may be entered for the new award for ‘Sustainability Feature of the Year’. - Transport Feature of the Year – The Kenneth Westcott-Jones Award
This award recognises features that focus on an aspect of transport, including road, rail, air or water. - Travel Guide Book of the Year
This award is open to any written travel guide book published as a book between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2023, and not entered in this category before. - Travel Narrative Book of the Year – The Adele Evans Award
This award is open to any written travel narrative published as a book between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2023, and not entered in this category before. - Travel Photo Feature of the Year
This award recognises the photo element of a published travel feature, and how the photos supplied by the member have added to the overall feature. - Travel Blog Post of the Year
This award recognises the quality of a single blog post. - Travel Broadcast of the Year
This award recognises the quality of a single broadcast and can be entered by members acting as presenter, cameraperson, director or producer. Joint entries will also be accepted where members have worked together on a broadcast.
Awards recognising a member’s wider skill set through a portfolio of four pieces of work:
- BGTW Travel Blogger of the Year
This award recognises the overall quality of the blogger’s work across a portfolio of four written blogs. - BGTW Travel Broadcaster of the Year
This award covers broadcasts, podcasts and vlogs. It recognises the overall quality of the broadcaster’s work focusing on the role of the member in a portfolio of four travel broadcasts. Members can be acting as presenter, director or producer. Joint entries will also be accepted where members have worked together on a broadcast. - BGTW Photographer of the Year
This award recognises the overall quality of a photographer’s work judged on the photographic merit of a portfolio of four travel-related images. Images MUST have been published. - BGTW Travel Writer of the Year
This award recognises the overall quality of a travel writer’s work judged on a portfolio of four published features. - BGTW Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Journalism – The Dr Melissa Shales Award
This award is in the gift of the Board of the BGTW.
Members submit their best work for judging. The judging panel comprises a wide range of national and international travel editors, photographers, bloggers and broadcasters, including members of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the Australian Society of Travel Writers (ASTW).
In each category, the judges will be looking for a combination of creativity, originality and quality, identifying a shortlist of up to six entries in each category.
The judging process endeavours to offer a level playing field to all members. This is done in two ways:
- Wherever possible, to avoid favouritism or other bias, anything that identifies the name of the member will be removed before the entry is sent to the judges.
- The judges will be briefed to focus on the quality of the content and how a feature, photo, blog or broadcast tells a story, enthuses or inspires, rather than focusing on how unusual a destination or topic might be. So, Poole Harbour or Portmeirion can sit happily alongside Shanghai or the Serengeti, and rightly so!
The finalists will be announced on Sunday 1 October 2023. The winners will be announced at the BGTW Annual Awards Gala that will take place on Sunday 5 November 2023, the eve of World Travel Market London. Details of that event will be announced shortly.
Taking part is a valuable benefit offered by membership of the Guild. Members who have won awards in the past will attest to their value, especially relating to exposure and interest in their work by commissioning editors, PRs, DMOs and other tourism organisations interested in gaining destination and client exposure.
How to enter
- Identify which category/categories you wish to submit an entry for.
- Read the rules (see below).
- Read the entry criteria for each category (see below).
- Make sure you submit your entry before the deadline. It is extremely helpful to the BGTW Secretariat if you don’t wait until the deadline!
- Make sure you’ve really read the rules and the entry criteria below!
All entries and all supporting documents must be received by Friday 4 August 2023 @5pm (UK). Remember, you need to complete the form for each category you want to enter.
General rules and regulations
There are some general rules you should note:
- Members may submit a maximum of one entry in each category for work published/broadcast between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023.
- No article may be submitted for more than one category, except where a single entry forms part of the portfolio of four items required for the writer, blogger, broadcaster and photographer categories.
- Photographs, DVDs etc. should be marked only with the membership number (on membership card) and the title/subject. Do NOT include the name, address or other identifying mark of the member.
- All entries must be in the English language.
- Please note that the responsibility to ensure that the entry form(s) is completed fully, and that all supporting evidence is supplied as shown, is down to you. A failure to supply all information requested may mean the entry cannot be judged.
- Articles should be submitted in their original and unedited form. The BGTW believes that this best reflects the ability of the Guild members.
- All headers and footers should be deleted, as should any family names (of children, partners etc.), which might betray the author’s identity.
- The BGTW Board reserves the right to cancel any award which has not received at least six qualified entries.
- Please address queries about entering these awards to the BGTW Administrator on 020 8144 8713 or by email to [email protected]
Entry Criteria
Please read the following entry criteria for each category carefully, and in conjunction with the award descriptions listed above.
For Individual Piece Entries
(Travel Feature of the Year – UK; Travel Feature of the Year – Europe; Travel Feature of the Year – Worldwide;
Travel Feature of the Year – regional, specialist and trade media; Sustainability Feature of the Year;
Specialist Travel Feature of the Year – the Bryn Frank Award;
Transport Feature of the Year – The Kenneth Westcott-Jones Award)
- The judges will be looking for creativity and originality in writing style and content.
- Written features are articles published between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023 either for the consumer or trade press.
- ‘Publication’ means in print and online, but not on a member’s own blog or social media.
- Online means articles commissioned, published and paid for by websites or blogs, and self-published e-magazines and ebooks.
- A self-contained chapter written by a member for a published book can be submitted for any of the article awards. The book must be sent to the Secretariat.
- Publications can be English outlets (in the English language) outside the UK.
- Articles should be submitted in their original and unedited form. The BGTW believes that this best reflects the ability of the Guild members.
- All headers and footers should be deleted, as should any family names (of children, partners), which might betray the author’s identity.
- The award category for which the article is being entered should be shown at the top of the document along with your membership number. Contact the BGTW Administrator if you do not know your membership number.
- The article should be presented in Arial font. Please remove images from submission.
- You must use the title as it appeared in the publication.
- You should include a scanned or pdf copy of the published article as proof of publication when submitting your form online. If you do not have access to a scanner, you can use a photograph. A photocopy of the original will be accepted by post if accompanied with a clear note outlining what it is for.
- Articles should be sent electronically via the online form as a Word document or RTF.
- Entries by hard copy cannot be accepted. The BGTW Administrator is available to assist if you have technical difficulties.
Best Travel Guide Book and Best Narrative Travel Book – The Adele Evans Award
- Judges will be looking for clarity, originality and creativity in writing style.
- All book(s) should have been published between 1st August 2021 and 31st July 2023.
- Entries may have been published as a book either in print or online.
- The book(s) should be a minimum of 10,000 words.
- We require three copies of the book to send to the three judges for this category. Please send the books by post to: BGTW Administrator (Awards), 32 Salop Road, Overton on Dee, Wrexham. LL13 0EH
- Members might approach their publishers to supply the entry copies. Consideration will be given to viewing the book as a pdf but a hard copy is preferred.
- If the book is multi-authored, please make clear which sections of the book have been written by the member making the submission.
- If more than one Guild member has worked on a book, they may submit a joint entry for the award as long as it is made clear which sections of the book are written by each member.
- If the book is not the sole work of a member, the individual contribution of the member should not be less than a full chapter. Only new chapters of second editions are eligible.
Travel Photo Feature of the Year
- The judges will be looking for a published feature that contains three or more images supplied by the member and how those photos add to the feature and help tell the story.
- The judges will also be looking at the photos themselves, but it is noted that the choice of which images were used would have been down to the editorial team.
- The photo feature must have been published between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023 and in any print or online media.
- There must be a minimum of three images included with the entry as individual jpeg files.
- The published feature should be scanned and submitted as a pdf, making sure the name and date of the publication is clear (either already printed on the page, or with the publication’s cover included as part of the pdf). If the feature is online only then a screen shot should be submitted.
Travel Blog Post of the Year
- The judges will be looking for an individual blog post that reflects the distinctive personality of the member.
- The post being submitted for judging must be the member’s original material and be related to travel.
- The post must have been published between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023.
- Please note the judges will receive the blog post via the link provided.
Travel Broadcast of the Year
- The judges will be looking for a single radio programme, podcast or vlog that is travel related and reflects the distinctive personality of the Guild member making the submission.
- The content must be the member’s original material but can cover any genre: documentary, comedy, social comment etc.
- A broadcast should be clear about its editorial position and transparent about sponsored travel and paid-for content.
- The broadcast must have been aired during the period from 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023.
- The broadcast can be an entire programme, or a segment within a programme.
- The member submitting an entry may be presenter, cameraperson, director or producer.
- Joint entries will also be accepted where members have worked together on a broadcast.
- The broadcast must be submitted electronically as an audio or video file.
Portfolio Categories
BGTW Travel Blogger of the Year
- This category requires the member to submit a portfolio of four blog posts.
- All four posts must be travel-related and have been published between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023 on the member’s own blog.
- The blog must have been published for at least a year, ending 31 July 2023, and have a readership of at least 2,000 visitors a month on average over the last year (as shown by Google Analytics or similar).
- You must provide the URL of the site that gives archive evidence showing that the blog has been published at least since 1 July 2022.
- You must provide a screenshot of Google Analytics or similar showing an average of at least 2,000 visitors per month over the last year.
- You must provide links to the four posts being submitted.
- Please note the judges will receive the blog post via the links provided.
BGTW Travel Broadcaster of the Year
- This category requires the member to submit a portfolio of four broadcasts.
- The judges will be looking for radio programmes, podcasts, vlogs or other broadcasts that are travel-related and reflect the distinctive personality of the Guild member making the submission.
- The portfolio can be a combination of any type of broadcast.
- The content of the portfolio must be the member’s original material and can cover any genre: documentary, comedy, social comment etc. or a mix of these.
- A broadcast should be clear about its editorial position and transparent about sponsored travel and paid-for content.
- The broadcasts must have been aired during the period from 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023.
- The broadcasts can be an entire programme, or segments within a programme.
- The member submitting an entry may be presenter, cameraperson, director or producer.
- Joint entries will also be accepted where members have worked together on a broadcast.
- The broadcasts must be submitted electronically as an audio or video file.
BGTW Photographer of the Year
- This category requires that all images entered are published during the period from 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023.
- Members are required to submit a portfolio of four individual photographs.
- The photos must have been taken by the member but need not be linked thematically other than that of ‘travel’.
- The judges will be looking for a combination of quality, creativity, composition and content.
- There is no restriction on when a photo was taken. However, the member is required to give a description of the circumstances that led to the photo being taken, including when and where.
- Photos previously submitted in the BGTW Members’ Excellence Awards may not be resubmitted.
- Permitted standard digital manipulation of entries is allowed including cropping, exposure, minor editing, sharpening etc. Manipulation of the main subject or montage is not allowed.
- Photographs should be sent as hi-res JPEGs. Prints, transparencies or negatives cannot be accepted.
BGTW Travel Writer of the Year
- This category requires members to submit a portfolio of four features.
- The judges will be looking for travel-related features that show the breadth of the member’s writing skills.
- Features entered in any other category of the MEA 2022 may be used as part of a portfolio for this category.
- All features must have been published between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023.
- There is no limit to the word count on any of the articles submitted.
- The articles must have been commissioned and may have been published in any magazine, newspaper or on the internet. Articles can be either for the consumer or trade press, or a mix of both.
Finally
The deadline for entries is Friday 4 August 2023 at 5pm (UK).
Double check that you’ve read the category description and rules for the entry you are submitting, have completed all the sections on the entry form and have all the evidence and supporting information that the BGTW Administrator, and the judges, will need.
Finally, if you have any questions, please email Stuart Render, Awards Director, at [email protected] or call 07760 172773.
Good luck, and remember that taking part could mean your name finds its way in front of commissioning editors and the wider travel media community!
