In this newsletter:
- Intro from Sarah
- BGTW profile contact details – final reminder
- BGTW 65th Anthology Book Feature Call-Out
- Annual Gala Awards Dinner update
- BGTW Better World Symposium (2nd Edition) – September 2025
- Membership updates
- Invitations from Members
Intro from Sarah
I hope that everyone had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and that you’re beginning to feel that Spring is finally upon us here in the UK. That said, there is rain hammering at my window as I write this, so perhaps not …
There’s been a great deal going on behind the scenes, with a new website being developed and the 2025 MEAs and ITAs set to be launched. We’ll be sharing updates with you in due course, but in the meantime, I’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of the Board members who have put in the hard yards to make these things happen.
Of course, many of you will be looking forward to heading to Sri Lanka next month. Final preparations, details and itineraries are expected imminently and we’ll be sure to update you as soon as we have the requisite information.
Additionally, Chris is expecting China updates in the next few days. Thank you for your patience as these plans come together.
Charlotte is taking a well-deserved break during the month of May, so please wish her a relaxing time and direct your enquiries to the relevant Board members. There’ll be an OOO message to guide you to the right person.
Lots of achievements to celebrate in this issue, as our members have been smashing it out of the park with nominations and awards. Please make sure to read the list under the ‘membership’ section and join us in congratulating our talented Guildies. Well done and good luck to you all!
Finally, some very special felicitations are in order! A very happy birthday to Associate Member Brian Jackson, who is celebrating his 90th birthday this week! Such a milestone and we wish you all the very best for a wonderful weekend with friends and family.
Best wishes, Sarah
On behalf of the BGTW Board
BGTW profile contact details – final reminder
FINAL REMINDER Action Needed: The deadline to set online privacy settings for your BGTW profile contact details has been extended until 25 April. The default settings are that your email (and phone number, if ever added to your website records) will display publicly on your mini portfolio unless you opt out.
Please make changes at https://dev.bgtw.org/account/ (profile management instructions here). If you have issues logging in/resetting your password (we know of this issue on specific accounts; it will be rectified with the new website), please email charlotte.copeman@bgtw.org to request a temporary password.
Note: If your settings are already set to visible, your contact details won’t yet display but will appear on 26 April; this is a site-wide template update, so the “switch on” will happen across all profiles simultaneously.
BGTW 65th Anthology Book Feature Call-Out
The BGTW will facilitate the publication of a member-led anthology as part of our 65th anniversary; Bradt Journey Books will print and distribute the book. We would love as many members as possible to be involved, and section two of the anthology (Experiences) is especially suitable for non-writer members who want to share a unique experience they stumbled upon, but not craft a full feature. We are also looking for stand-alone photos to be published on the colour pages and a front and back.
We’re still seeking more contributions for the title which will include 65 inspiring travel stories (from 1960, when the BGTW was founded and modern-day tourism began, until the present day) and 65 experiences. Please find full details here and then submit your feature or experience on this link If you wish to upload photos for considerations, please add them in the shared drive here.
Questions or queries should be sent to maryanne.evans@bgtw.org
Annual Gala Awards Dinner update
We are delighted to announce the BGTW Annual Gala Awards Dinner will take place on Monday November 3, 2025 at a truly spectacular venue: One Marylebone, a magnificent converted church in central London. You can get a sneak preview here.
As challenging as it may be to surpass last year’s glamorous Gatsby dinner, we’re pulling out all the stops to make sure that our 65th anniversary is suitably celebrated – so put the date in your diary and, if you can, get ready to help us, as we will start selling tickets in the next week or so and are waiting for signed off confirmation on the main sponsors.
BGTW Better World Symposium (2nd Edition) – September 2025
Following the successful first edition of the BGTW Better World Symposium, we’re excited to announce that the 2025 event will be held in late September in London (with the option of online attendance). If you’re interested in being a (paid) panellist or speaker, taking part in some other way, or have a suggestion for sessions you’d love to attend, please contact/share your ideas with daniel.clarke@bgtw.org. Listen to last year’s event podcast recordings here
Membership updates
Some thank yous and welcomes
Russell Maddicks has been doing a fantastic job of putting“Meet the Members” posts up on Twitter, showcasing individual Guildies and their areas of expertise. A few people have been wondering how to get involved so please just send a headshot and a short bio (remembering X’s 280 character limit) either to Russell (newzvision@hotmail.com) or to me (sarah.rodrigues@bgtw.org)
When it comes to Instagram and helping Shebs to share your images to the BGTW account, please could you help to make his job a little easier by tagging @travwriters in the photo itself, rather than in the caption? This will help to ensure that all of your brilliant adventures and achievements are being showcased. Remember, as well, that it never hurts to re-share the posts of other Guild members to your own feeds – it’s a show of support and just a decent thing to do!
We’re welcoming a new member this week – Jolyon Braime, who is a freelance writer and editor, working largely in travel and outdoor media since he started out editing UK city guides 19 years ago. The majority of his longer pieces have focused on hiking destinations, including Nepal, Andorra, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Norway. Welcome Jolyon!
Additionally, a warm welcome to Susan Schwartz, who has resumed her membership after a short pause. It’s nice to have you back.
Congratulations to our members
Last week, the finalists for this year’s TravMedia Awards were announced in a livestream hosted by Howard Salinger and Louise Napier. Of the 1000+ entries received over the 30 categories, we’re delighted to say that many of our members were among the finalists. These are:
- Stuart Forster, for Trade Staff Writer of the Year
- Daniel Stables, for Domestic Travel Writer of the Year
- Adrian Bridge, for Specialist Travel Writer of the Year (topic)
- Tristan Rutherford, for Specialist Travel Writer of the Year (topic)
- Diana Jarvis, for Sustainability Writer of the Year
- Emma Gregg, for Sustainability Writer of the Year
- Jessica Vincent, for Sustainability Writer of the Year
- Abigail King, for Content Creator of the Year
- Niki Blasina, for Consumer Staff Writer of the Year
- Alex Outhwaite, for Broadcast Programme of the Year
- Simon Parker, for Broadcast Programme of the Year
- Niki Blasina, for Luxury Travel Writer of the Year
- Jonathan Thompson, for Feature of the Year
Special mention also for adventure.com and Bradt Guides, both of which are up for Travel Media Website of the Year – well done, Meera Dattani and Adrian Phillips.
Best of luck to all of you on May 12th, when the awards night will be held in London – and huge congratulations from all of us!
We also need a loud round of applause for Mike Unwin, who has won Best Destination Feature at the African Travel Week Media Awards. His winning piece, ‘Rock of Ages,’ is ‘a vivid exploration of Zimbabwe UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Matobo Hills’ and was published in Travel Africa Magazine. Congratulations, Mike!
Invitations from Members
Congratulations to Ash Bhardwaj on the paperback launch of his book, Why We Travel. He would like to invite members to the launch event at the Shackleton store in Piccadilly on 8th May from 6.15 to 8pm
If you can make it, please sign up using this Eventbrite link for a free ticket (feel free to bring guests, as you can add extra tickets on the link)
