Travel Writer Awards
Dublin, Travel writer Mark Evans (Evening Herald) was presented with the Travel Extra Journalist of the Year Award this evening to coincide with the annual Holiday World Show, currently taking place at the RDS Dublin until Sunday, January 24th. Mark Evans wins for a series of articles throughout 2009. Limelight Communications oversaw the event management and PR for the awards and this year saw a huge increase in the number of submissions from previous years, indicating the rising prestige of this excellent event.
Nine other winners, each for different holidaying categories, were announced this evening at a dinner in Thomas Prior House, Ballsbridge which was attended by the cream of Irish travel and tourism writers, and broadcasters. The award winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of senior Irish journalists. This year saw a huge increase in the number of submissions from previous years, displaying the creativity and continuing innovation of travel and tourism journalism in Ireland. To acknowledge the growing diversity of travel journalism, three new awards specifically for radio, young journalist, and Northern Ireland are launched this year to recognise achievements in these fields.
The category winners were:
| Skiing: | Killian Forde (Go Magazine, The Irish Times) |
| Sponsor: | Topflight |
| Summer Sun: | Robert Mayes (Irish Mail on Sunday, for a piece on Costa Brava) |
| Sponsor: | Falcon Holidays |
| Long Haul: | Mal Rogers (“Go” Magazine, The Irish Times, for his piece on Western Cape) |
| Sponsor: | Los Angeles and Virgin Airlines |
| Home Market: | Pól Ó’Conghaile (for his series “A Day in the Life”) |
| Sponsor: | Failte Ireland |
| Short Breaks: | Philip Nolan (Cara Magazine/Irish Mail on Sunday, for a piece on Las Vegas) |
| Sponsor: | Emerald Star |
| Television: | Kathryn Thomas (RTE TV, No Frontiers) |
| Sponsor: | Sunway Holidays |
| Radio: New award: | Valerie Cox (RTE Drivetime, piece on Spirit of Adventure) |
| Sponsor: | Explore |
| Young Journalist: New award: | Lorna Nolan (Evening Herald, for pieces on Malta / New York) |
| Sponsor: | Thomas Cook |
| Northern Ireland: New award: | Paddy Dignam (Irish Daily Star, for a piece on Belfast) |
| Sponsor: | Northern Ireland Tourist Board |
Overall winner of the Travel Extra Travel Journalist of the Year Award, Mark Evans, was awarded the prize for a body of work covering several of the award categories. The sponsor of the award for overall winner was the Malta Tourist Board.
