PASADENA, CA -- The North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) today announced that Kate Armstrong  won a GOLD award in the 2015 NATJA Awards Competition in the Destination Travel: International Newspaper category for her article Hiking Rota Vicentina in Portugal with a Donkey (published by Fairfax in Sun-Herald and www.traveller.com.au) .

This awards competition, now in its 24th year, honors the “best of the best” in travel writing, photography and destination marketing that cover all aspects of the travel industry worldwide.  

The NATJA Awards recognize excellence in travel writing, photojournalism, and destination marketing.

This year's entries reflected an array of truly excellent journalistic and creative work. “Finalists and winners will be gratified to know that their work was judged by seasoned journalists, photographers and PR professionals with literally hundreds of years of experience. NATJA wishes to express its deep gratitude to all its judges for hours of work in reviewing this year's entries,” stated NATJA CEO Helen Hernandez. This year's journalism entries were reviewed by a remarkable panel of judges, including celebrity photographer, teacher and author Elizabeth Messina, whose body of work has appeared in major publications.   

NATJA is the second largest travel media association in North America. Members include travel media professionals, publications, destination marketing organizations, and other travel marketing agencies. Members are provided with professional development workshops, online tools and networking opportunities. NATJA also publishes TravelWorld International Magazine (www.travelworldmagazine.com).

For more information about NATJA or a complete list of 2015 award winners and finalists, visit www.natja.org.