Three Guild members were winners at this year’s France Travel Media Awards (FTMA), held at Carousel in Marylebone on Tuesday 27 February.
Gillian Thornton, Audrey Gillan and James Stewart all won their respective categories: Best Art & Culture Feature; Best Wine & Gastronomy Feature; and Best Winter feature, so three categories out of seven were won by BGTW members
The wining pieces were ‘Living Lascaux’ by Gillian in France Today magazine; ‘Eat Lyon’ by Audrey in National Geographic Traveller and ‘Deep Freeze’ by James in The Sunday Times. Each won a bottle of Laurent-Perrier champagne, a certificate and an engraved trophy in the shape of a star.
With Mary Novakovich and Paul Wade also nominated for awards, five of the total seven categories included entrants from the BGTW.
The winners were voted for, on criteria including topic originality and creativity of expression, by a panel including Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors; Nigel Wonnacott, head of communications at Brittany Ferries; Charlotte Wilmots, founder of Charlotte’s Web Public Relations; and Anne Pedersen and Rachel Johnston, head of PR and PR officer respectively at Atout France.
The evening was supported by 13 partners: Brittany, Normandy, Le Havre, Atlantic Coast-Loire Valley, Nouvelle Aquitaine, Dordogne-Périgord, Occitanie-Sud de France, Top French Cities, Visit French Wine, Brittany Ferries, easyJet, Eurostar and National Express.
In addition to the awards, the purpose of the evening was to launch the second year of Atout France’s pan-European #Feel campaign to the UK media.
The complete list of winners is as follows:
BEST ART & CULTURE FEATURE
Gillian Thornton for ‘Living Lascaux’ in France Today magazine
(Nominees: David Atkinson, The Telegraph; Frank Barrett, The Mail on Sunday;
Marion Sauvebois, France Today magazine; Stephen Davy-Osborne, France Today magazine; Sean Thomas, The Times)
BEST WINE & GASTRONOMY FEATURE
Audrey Gillan for ‘Eat Lyon’ in National Geographic Traveller
(Nominees: Alicia Miller, Sunday Times Travel Magazine; Fiona Sims, The Times; Philip Sweeney, The Independent; Rhiannon Batten, Olive Magazine)
BEST WINTER FEATURE
James Stewart for ‘Deep Freeze’ in The Sunday Times
(Nominees: Cat Weakley, The Telegraph Ski; Elizabeth Hotson, TNT Magazine;
Michael Cranmer, Consensio magazine; Tom Robbins, The Financial Times)
BEST DESTINATION FEATURE
Rory Goulding for ‘Hidden France’ in Lonely Planet magazine
(Nominees: Bex Hughes & Saskia Wilson, Suitcase Magazine; Anthony Peregrine, The Sunday Times Travel; Carolyn Boyd, Sunday Times Travel Magazine; Judy Armstrong, FRANCE Magazine; Mary Novakovich, Lonely Planet)
BEST CITY BREAK FEATURE
Liz Edwards for ‘Second To None’ (Marseille) in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
(Nominees: Frank Barrett, The Mail on Sunday; Paul Wade, The Telegraph; Ronan O’Shea, The Independent; Tim Robey, Lonely Planet magazine)
BEST FAMILY FEATURE
Ian Vogler for ‘My Family Tree’ in The Sunday Mirror
(Nominees: Alice Beer, The Mail on Sunday; Anthony Peregrine, The Sunday Times Travel; Ben Lerwill, The Guardian; Fiona Whitty, The Sunday People)
BEST GOLF FEATURE
Adam Ruck for ‘Atlantic Golf: Long drive on the golf coast’ in FRANCE Magazine
(Nominees: Clive Agran, Voyage magazine)
