28 Feb 2018
This year's France Travel Media Awards were unveiled last night (27 February) during a glamorous evening at Carousel in Marylebone, following a voting selection by a six-strong jury panel. Making up the panel were Ian Murray, Executive Director of the Society of Editors; Nigel Wonnacott, Head of Communications at Brittany Ferries; Charlotte Wilmots, founder of Charlotte's Web Public Relations; and Anne Pedersen and Rachel Johnston, Head of PR and PR Officer respectively at Atout France. A total of seven awards were given out in categories including City Breaks, Wine & Gastronomy, Art & Culture, and Family.
From action-packed city adventures to winter sports and soaking up the sun en famille, and from Lyon's foodie scene to the culture of Lascaux, the different lifestyles and destinations of France were brought to life by an inspirational variety of articles. A shortlist of between four and six articles per category was selected from a total of 125 entries, before being independently assessed by each of the jury panel members on criteria including topic originality and creativity of expression.
The winners were announced at a celebratory evening in the stylish surroundings of Carousel in Marylebone, which adopted a seaside theme with a supporting exhibition of photography by Maia Flore and delicious fish on the menu. The evening was attended by 52 print and online journalists and supported by 13 French partners – Brittany, Normandy, Le Havre, Atlantic Coast-Loire Valley, Nouvelle Aquitaine, Dordogne-Périgord, Occitanie-Sud de France, Top French Cities, Visit French Wine, Brittany Ferries, easyJet, Eurostar and National Express, 10 of which had representation.
And the winners were…
BEST DESTINATION FEATURE
Rory Goulding for 'Hidden France' in Lonely Planet magazine
(Nominees: Bex Hughes & Saskia Wilson, Suitcase Magazine; Anthony Peregrine, The Sunday Times Travel; Carolyn Boyd, Sunday Times Travel Magazine; Judy Armstrong, FRANCE Magazine; Mary Novakovich, Lonely Planet)
BEST FAMILY FEATURE
Ian Vogler for 'My Family Tree' in The Sunday Mirror
(Nominees: Alice Beer, The Mail on Sunday; Anthony Peregrine, The Sunday Times Travel; Ben Lerwill, The Guardian; Fiona Whitty, The Sunday People)
BEST CITY BREAK FEATURE
Liz Edwards for 'Second To None' (Marseille) in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
(Nominees: Frank Barrett, The Mail on Sunday; Paul Wade, The Telegraph; Ronan O'Shea, The Independent; Tim Robey, Lonely Planet magazine)
BEST GOLF FEATURE
Adam Ruck for 'Atlantic Golf: Long drive on the golf coast' in FRANCE Magazine
(Nominees: Clive Agran, Voyage magazine)
BEST ART & CULTURE FEATURE
Gillian Thornton for 'Living Lascaux' in France Today magazine
(Nominees: David Atkinson, The Telegraph; Frank Barrett, The Mail on Sunday;
Marion Sauvebois, France Today magazine; Stephen Davy-Osborne, France Today magazine; Sean Thomas, The Times)
BEST WINE & GASTRONOMY FEATURE
Audrey Gillan for 'Eat Lyon' in National Geographic Traveller
(Nominees: Alicia Miller, Sunday Times Travel Magazine; Fiona Sims, The Times;
Philip Sweeney, The Independent; Rhiannon Batten, Olive Magazine)
BEST WINTER FEATURE
James Stewart for 'Deep Freeze' in The Sunday Times
(Nominees: Cat Weakley, The Telegraph Ski; Elizabeth Hotson, TNT Magazine;
Michael Cranmer, Consensio magazine; Tom Robbins, The Financial Times)
In addition to the media awards, the purpose of the evening was to launch the second year of Atout France's pan-European #Feel campaign to the UK media. Digital activity for the campaign commenced on 29 January and will be divided into four phases through 2018.
ENDS
For further information please contact
Anne Pedersen, Head of Public Relations Department, Atout France
anne.pedersen@atout-france.fr
Tel: 020 7061 6624
