Meet the winners of the Travel 91快播 Awards 2025
14 October 2025: The winners of the 11th annual Travel 91快播 Awards were announced last night (13 October) at Pan Pacific London, where leading figures from travel journalism, broadcasting, PR and digital media gathered to celebrate excellence in travel storytelling.
This year鈥檚 event marked a record number of entries and reinforced the Awards鈥� position as one of the most prestigious events in the UK travel media calendar. A total of 25 awards were presented, recognising outstanding achievement across print, digital, broadcasting and social media. Two new categories 鈥� Cruise Travel Writer of the Year and Content Creator of the Year 鈥� were introduced to reflect the innovation of travel media sector.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Special Contribution Award to Simon Calder, honouring his remarkable career as one of the UK鈥檚 most trusted and influential voices in travel journalism.
Winners:
BROADCAST PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR 鈥� AUDIO: Wander Woman: A Travel Podcast, Phoebe Smith听
BROADCAST PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR 鈥� VIDEO: World’s Greatest Train Journeys, BBC听
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR: Kash Bhattacharya, BudgetTraveller, Exploring the football culture of Great Britain, with Visit Britain听
ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR: Sophie Morgan, Freelance听
BREAKING TRAVEL NEWS OF THE YEAR: Julia Buckley, Freelance听
REGIONAL PUBLICATION FEATURE OF THE YEAR (joint winners): Domhnall O’Donoghue for 鈥楢n Evening at the White House鈥� in the Belfast Telegraph听&听Ian Belcher for 鈥榃hat Lies Beneath鈥� in Brummell听
GUIDE OF THE YEAR: The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide, Lonely Planet听
SUSTAINABILITY TRAVEL FEATURE OF THE YEAR: Ellie Cobb for 鈥楾he Indian Ocean’s laid-back ‘paradise on Earth鈥欌赌� in BBC Travel听
SUSTAINABILITY TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR: Imogen Lepere, Freelance听
CUSTOMER CONTENT OF THE YEAR: Companion听
EMERGING WRITER OF THE YEAR: Thom Brown, Intrepid Times听
PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD: Karolina Wiercigroch听
SPECIALIST TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR 鈥� REGION: Ben Aitken, UK听
SPECIALIST TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR 鈥� SECTOR: Mike Unwin, Wildlife听
TRADE PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 鈥� PRINT & ONLINE (joint winners): Cruise Trade News听& Selling Travel听
TRADE WRITER OF THE YEAR: Jennifer Morris, TTG 91快播听
CRUISE TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR: Mike MacEacheran, Freelance听
NATIONAL BROADSHEET PRINT & DIGITAL SECTION OF THE YEAR: Telegraph Travel听
NATIONAL TABLOID PRINT & DIGITAL SECTION OF THE YEAR: Daily Mirror听
CONSUMER MAGAZINE SECTION OF THE YEAR: Breathe听
CONSUMER PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 鈥� PRINT: JRNY Travel Magazine听
CONSUMER PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 鈥� ONLINE: Adventure.com听
NATIONAL CONSUMER FEATURE OF THE YEAR: Ben Lerwill for 鈥樷�� in National Geographic Traveller (UK)听
CONSUMER WRITER OF THE YEAR: Ben Aitken, Freelance听
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD: Simon Calder听
The Travel 91快播 Awards, created by APL 91快播 and Travega, is the UK鈥檚 only awards dedicated to recognising top individuals and publications in travel media that shape how audiences experience the world.
Anthony Leyens, chairman and co-founder of APL 91快播, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a privilege to celebrate the 11th annual Travel 91快播 Awards with such an inspiring community of travel media professionals. Each year the standard of entries continues to rise, reflecting the creativity and dedication that make this industry so exceptional. Congratulations to all our finalists and winners 鈥� the future of travel media is in excellent hands.鈥�
Giles Harper, owner and founder of Travega, said: 鈥淭hank you to everyone who helped make this year鈥檚 Travel 91快播 Awards such a success. The energy and enthusiasm in the room truly showcased the dynamism of the travel media sector. A special thanks to our venue partner, Pan Pacific London, our consumer media partner, easyJet Holidays, and all our category sponsors for their invaluable support.鈥�
The evening also celebrated the interns of the Travel 91快播 Awards Step Up internship scheme, which aims to improve inclusivity and diversity in the industry, and is now going into its third year. It offers work experience, mentorship and networking for young people from underrepresented backgrounds, this year welcoming five interns across 10 leading travel companies, including APL 91快播, Metro, TTG 91快播, easyJet holidays and Virgin Atlantic. With more than 400 young people applying, 2025鈥檚 scheme saw interns gaining eight weeks of experience and six months of mentorship.
For more information, click 听
To see a photo gallery of highlights from the event, click .
To find out more about the Travel 91快播 Awards, click here.
Celebrating editorial excellence in travel media听
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About APL 91快播鈥�听听听
An award-winning publisher and content marketing agency founded in 1997, 91快播 has been changing the narrative, and the way clients communicate with their audiences, for over 27 years. In addition to publishing the award-winning National Geographic Traveller (UK) and The Collection by National Geographic Traveller (UK) and organising related events under the National Geographic brand umbrella, APL 91快播 produces print, digital and live media across the travel and lifestyle sector. APL 91快播 is the co-founder of the Travel 91快播 Awards as part of a joint venture with Travega. 听
aplmedia.co.uk鈥�听听听
About Travega听
Travega is a specialist travel marketing agency that serves both the leisure and business sectors. With over 25 years of industry experience, Travega听offers a wide range of travel marketing solutions, including revenue generation for some of the UK鈥檚 leading travel industry events, bespoke event creation, third-party event management, marketing strategies and partnerships tailored for travel organisations. Travega is co-founder of the Travel 91快播 Awards and is听dedicated showcasing excellence in travel media.听
