2012 Travel Journalism Awards

The 2012 Travel Journalism Awards night was held on the beautiful Indonesian island of Lombok, courtesy of Garuda Indonesia, Accor and Novotel Lombok, Visit Indonesia and Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

The ASTW honoured its best and brightest – writers, photographers and public relations professionals –at an awards dinner to remember, on the beach and under the stars at the Novotel Lombok on 27 October, 2012.

The three major awards of the evening went to…

ASTW TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR:
Louise Southerden:

Read Louise’s portfolio of winning stories:

Wild at heart (Madagascar), The Sydney Morning Herald, February 2012

Frontier kingdom (Mustang), The Sydney Morning Herald, April 2012

Frozen in time (Antarctica), WellBeing magazine, August 2011

Travel Writer of the Year finalists were:
Brian Johnston – Life measured in tapas, St Petersburg, Flinders walking – all The Sydney Morning Herald
Louise Southerden – Wild at heart (Madagascar), Frontier kingdom, both The Sydney Morning Herald; Frozen in time, WellBeing
Sean Mooney – Camping for beginners, Rhythm and blue, Poetry in motion – all The Sydney Morning Herald

This award was proudly sponsored by South Africa Tourism and Virgin Limited Edition.

ASTW TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR:
Barry O’Brien

Photographer of the Year finalists were:
Louise Southerden
Cathy Finch
Barry O’Brien

This award was proudly sponsored by Papua New Guinea Tourism.

ASTW PR COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR:
Pongsak Kanittanon

Communicator of the Year finalists were:
Lynne Ireland
Pongsak Kanittanon
Tessa Anderssen
Sarah Anderson
Astrid Mulholland

This award was sponsored by TravMedia.

Other winners and finalists:

BEST AUSTRALIAN STORY UNDER 1000 WORDS
Winner: Sean Mooney – Camelids and carriages await, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 2012

Finalists:
Sean Mooney – Camelids and carriages await – The Sydney Morning Herald
Marian McGuinness – Outback NSW, where cowboys race the clock – The Sun-Herald
Rob McFarland – Welcome to Reefworld – The Star (Kuala Lumpur)

BEST AUSTRALIAN STORY OVER 1000 WORDS
Winner: Kerry van der Jagt – Temptation of the fresh, The Sun-Herald, August 2011

Finalists:
Lee Mylne – Call of the wild and wondrous – Royal Auto
Kerry van der Jagt – Temptation of the fresh – The Sun-Herald
Kerry van der Jagt – The mist and the mystical – The Sun-Herald

BEST INTERNATIONAL STORY UNDER 1000 WORDS
Winner: Robert Upe – Served by the Lunch Lady – The Age/The Sydney Morning Herald, April 2012

Finalists:
Kay O’Sullivan – To market, to market – thehoopla.com.au
Christina Pfeiffer – Stalk a killer – Escape, The Courier Mail
Robert Upe – Served by the Lunch Lady – The Age/The Sydney Morning Herald

BEST INTERNATIONAL STORY OVER 1000 WORDS
Winner: Brian Johnston – Life measured in tapas, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 2011

Finalists:
Brian Johnston – Life measured in tapas – The Sydney Morning Herald
Caroline Gladstone – Clooney’s lake views – The Sun-Herald
Brian Johnston – Vienna Design – Escape, News Ltd

BEST JOURNEY OR ADVENTURE
Winner: : Louise Southerden – Wild at heart (Madagascar), The Sydney Morrning Herald, February 2012

Finalists:
Daniel Scott – Hamlet on two wheels – The Sydney Morning Herald
Louise Southerden – Wild at heart (Madagascar) – The Sydney Morning Herald
John Borthwick – Cruising the coast – The Sun-Herald

BEST RESPONSIBLE TOURISM STORY
Winner: Luke Wright – The last wild island, Get Lost, March 2012

Finalists:
Luke Wright – The last wild island – Get Lost
Kris Madden – Doing the right thing – Get Lost
Lee Mylne – Getting the gibbon experience – Geographical

BEST TRADE STORY
Winner: Kris Madden – Can the flying kangaroo bounce back? Traveltalk, November 2011

Finalists:
Kris Madden – Insurance: it’s all in the fine print – Traveltalk
Kris Madden – World spotlight shines on Burma – Traveltalk
Kris Madden – Can the flying kangaroo bounce back? – Traveltalk

BEST ONLINE INNOVATION
Winner: Craig Platt – One metre from death: a dip in the world’s most spectacular pool, www.smh.com.au, April 2012

Finalists:
Craig Platt – One metre from death: a dip in the world’s most spectacular pool – smh.com.au
Louise Southerden – Christmas (Island) in April – noimpactgirl.blogspot.com.au
Len Rutledge – Experience Norway – amazon.com

BEST TRAVEL APP
Winner: Lee Atkinson – Australian Road Trips app, iPhone/iPad & Android.

Finalists:
Lee Atkinson – Australian Road Trips – itunes.apple.com/au/app/australian-road-trips
Alison Plummer – Stratford and West Midlands: As you like it – itunes.apple.com/md/app/stratford-west-midlandsitunes.apple.com/md/app/stratford-west-midlands
Patrick Horton – itunes.apple.com/us/app/sutroworld
Susan Gough Henly – Australia: where to go – itunes.apple.com/au/app/australia-where-to-go

MOST OUTSTANDING TOURISM ORGANISATION
Winner: Canadian Tourism

Finalists:
Canadian Tourism
Tourism Tasmania
Vanuatu Tourism
South Africa Tourism
Tourism Victoria

MOST OUTSTANDING TRAVEL PRODUCT
Winner: Accor

Finalists:
Accor
Active Travel

JACK BUTTERS MEMORIAL AWARD FOR MOST OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE ASTW
Winner: Louise Southerden

(There are no finalists for this award – the winner is selected by the ASTW Board.)