Image by Claire Boobbyer winner of Top published Latin America photo
‘Teatro Mella Havana’ in BBC Travel
The Latin American Travel Association (LATA) revealed the winners of the LATA Media Awards in a virtual ceremony which took place on May 11, 2021. The winners and runners up were announced to the esteemed LATA and media members in attendance following a rigorous judging process that took place in 2020.
The LATA Media Awards celebrate the best in Latin American travel journalism and photography. The 2020 edition of the awards received over 175 submissions across nine categories, the winners of which were announced in full at the virtual ceremony and which can be found below:
Consumer National Newspaper Feature of the Year Award (print)
Winner: Kevin Rushby for ‘We want to keep our forest’: why Guyana’s wilderness needs visitors’ in The Guardian
Joint Runners-up: Chris Leadbeater for ‘The other side of Rio de Janeiro’ in The Sunday Telegraph and Nick Middleton for ‘Butterflies in the stomach’ in the Financial Times
Consumer Magazine Feature of the Year Award (print)
Winner: Kate Horne for ‘Magical Thinking’ in Suitcase Magazine
Runner-up: Phoebe Smith for ‘Reading the Runes’ in Suitcase Magazine
Online Consumer Feature of the Year Award (national magazine or newspaper)
Winner: Aaron Miller for ‘A road trip on Chile’s wild new Route of Parks’ in National Geographic Traveller UK (Online)
Runner-up: Kevin Rushby for ‘We want to keep our forest’: why Guyana’s wilderness needs visitors’ in The Guardian (Online)
Best Regional Feature of the Year Awards (print a/o online)
Winner: Jeannine Williamson for ‘The Call of the Wild’ in ETC Magazine
Runner-up: Sarah Marshall for ‘Vintage Beauty in Buenos Aires’ in Bristol Post
Trade Publication Feature of the Year Award (print or online)
Winner: Katie McGonagle for ‘Go with the flow’ in Travel Weekly
Joint Runners-up: Laura French for ‘Paved with Gold’ in Travel Weekly and Sarah Gilbert for ‘Dream in Colour’ in Travel Weekly
Blog, Vlog or Podcast of the Year Award
Winner: James Stewart for ‘Close encounters in the Galapagos’ in Horizon Guides
Runner-up: Shafik Meghji for ‘From war to wildlife: Why you should visit the Falkland Islands’ in Adventure.com
Best Latin American Round-up (print a/o online)
Winner: Chris Moss for ‘The Other Caribbean’ in The Telegraph (Online)
Runner-up: Laura French for ‘The best colonial-era cities in Central America’ in Travel Weekly
Best Self- Published Award (Company Blog/Website – LATA member category)
Winner: Vanessa Humphrey for ‘An Education in the Amazon’ in Steppes Travel blog
Runner-up: Matthew Scott for ‘Providencia Island, Colombia: An Alternative Take on Conventional Caribbean’ in Discover Silversea
Top published Latin America photo
Winner: Claire Boobbyer for ‘Teatro Mella Havana’ in BBC Travel
Runner-up: Phoebe Smith for ‘Ghost of the Steppes’ in Wanderlust
Attendees at the virtual LATA Media Awards ceremony were entertained with a Colombian-themed fiesta. The evening was rounded off in true Colombian style with a video tutorial on how to master the Champeta, a traditional Colombian dance.
The LATA Media Awards judging panel was made up of key industry figures including Colin Stewart, Chairman of LATA and the UK and Ireland director at Air Europa, Dan Linstead, Editorial Director at leading publishing house, Immediate Media, Richard Hammond, Founder and Chief Executive of Green Traveller, Martin Williams, CEO of M & Gaucho Restaurants, Mark O’Donoghue, COO of Travel Counsellors, and Amaranta Wright, Founder and Managing Director of LatinoLife Media and Events.
Colin Stewart commented:
“My sincerest congratulations to the winners of the LATA Media Awards. The standard of the entries was exceptionally high as always which is testament to the quality of travel journalism and photography on display from our winners that I am sure has inspired travellers from across the UK to travel to Latin America when restrictions permit. Travel media is of vital importance to the Latin American travel industry and so I want to take this opportunity to thank all media members for their continued support in telling their stories about the wonders of travel to Latin America, especially during such a challenging time.
LATA continues to lobby the government to ensure that travel can restart in Latin America as soon as it is safe, as well as continuing to support the Latin America travel trade. Given the current challenges, we really value this opportunity to showcase Latin America in such a positive way.”
-ENDS-
LATA is represented by LOTUS. For more information a/o images, please contact Kate McWilliams, George Leonard or Amber Martin (latapr@wearelotus.co.uk / 0207 953 7470).