2020-2021 SATW FOUNDATION
LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALISM COMPETITION
Judging was overseen by the University of Missouri School of Journalism with Emeritus Prof. John Fennell, Prof. Jennifer Rowe and administrative assistant Kim Townlain coordinating 27 judges this year. There were 1,278 entries.
From the menu at right, you can access more information about the 2020-21 winners. The List of Awards shows all winners by category; the numbers in parentheses with each category denote the number of entries. The Winners Gallery provides the judges’ comments and links to winning entries in each category.
For competition information, contact the Foundation administrator, Victoria Larson, victoria@satwf.com.
The 2020-2021 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition Awards Presentation Video
Watch the video that was first shown at the 2021 SATW Annual Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Winning Stories Covered the Moments and Moods of the Year
Winners “proved their mettle by producing original, useful and often moving stories that covered the moments and moods of the past year,” the judges said of the works, which covered spring of 2020 to spring of 2021. “Travel journalists were nimble and resourceful and showed in numerous ways the enduring value of their work.”
Katherine LaGrave, digital features editor for Afar Media, was honored as the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year. Judges praised her storytelling and reporting as well as her focus on what readers needed to know to navigate today’s travel challenges.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer earned the Gold award for newspaper travel coverage. Judges cited editor Susan Glaser’s “laser focus on readers” who sought closer-to-home destinations in the wake of the pandemic.
Matt Crossman took Gold in a new category this year, the Robert Haru Fisher award for Travel Health and Safety Coverage. Crossman’s story, ostensibly about bull riding on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Mexico, was really about filling the need for community and connection in a time of isolation.
A team of reporters from the Miami Herald earned the Gold in the Travel News/Investigative Reporting category for its examination of “COVID Cruises.” Judges praised this “excellent investigation on a breaking news story” that focused on accountability and provided actionable information for readers.
Gold in Travel magazines went to Travel + Leisure, Jacqueline Gifford, editor-in-chief. Judges cited “service-centric stories that anticipated what readers would want.”
The Gold for Special Packages and Series went to The New York Times for “A Year Without Travel,” which “employed strong writing, graphics, videos and first person-accounts to illustrate the far-reaching impact of the pandemic,” judges said. The New York Times earned eight awards, with five of them Gold.
BBC Travel tallied nine awards, including a Gold for Amanda Ruggeri’s “In Guatemala, the Maya World Untouched for Centuries” in Special-Purpose Travel. Judges cited her “storytelling and courage.”
Amanda Williams took Gold for her work on “A Dangerous Business Travel Blog,” a mix of trip tips and business advice, and CNTraveler earned the top award for Travel Journalism Websites.
Travel Journalism Shows its Mettle in 2021 Lowell Thomas Awards
Winners of SATW Foundation Competition Excel at Helping Readers Reckon with the Pandemic
October 5, 2021 – A digital journalist, a regional newspaper and a reporter’s improbable tale of bull riding on an aircraft carrier were among the winners of top awards in the 37th Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition in a year for which there was no road map.
The 1,278 entries in the annual contest, overseen by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, were noteworthy for their style, scope and service to readers who struggled to make sense of a travelscape turned upside down by the pandemic. The University of Missouri School of Journalism oversaw the judging, which involved 27 judges this year.
Winners “proved their mettle by producing original, useful and often moving stories that covered the moments and moods of the past year,” the judges said of the works, which covered spring of 2020 to spring of 2021. “Travel journalists were nimble and resourceful and showed in numerous ways the enduring value of their work.”
The awards were announced Monday, Oct. 4, at the SATW Convention in Milwaukee. The honor is considered the premier professional recognition for travel journalists and communicators. The Foundation is giving 104 awards in 27 categories and $22,550 in prize money this year.
Katherine LaGrave, digital features editor for AFAR Media, was honored as the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year. Judges praised her storytelling and reporting as well as her focus on what readers needed to know to navigate today’s travel challenges.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer earned the Gold award for newspaper travel coverage. Judges cited editor Susan Glaser’s “laser focus on readers” who sought closer-to-home destinations in the wake of the pandemic.
Matt Crossman took Gold in a new category this year, the Robert Haru Fisher award for Travel Health and Safety Coverage. Crossman’s story, ostensibly about bull riding on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Mexico, was really about filling the need for community and connection in a time of isolation. The Fisher award was made possible by a significant bequest from the late Bob Fisher, a past president of SATW and the first president of the SATW Foundation.
A team of reporters from the Miami Herald earned the Gold in the Travel News/Investigative Reporting category for its examination of “COVID Cruises.” Judges praised this “excellent investigation on a breaking news story” that focused on accountability and provided actionable information for
readers.
Gold in Travel magazines went to Travel + Leisure, Jacqueline Gifford, editor-in-chief. Judges cited “service-centric stories that anticipated what readers would want.”
The Gold for Special Packages and Series went to The New York Times for “A Year Without Travel,” which “employed strong writing, graphics, videos and first person-accounts to illustrate the far-reaching impact of the pandemic,” judges said. The New York Times was honored with a total of eight awards, including five golds in a variety of categories.
BBC Travel tallied nine awards, including a Gold for Amanda Ruggeri’s “In Guatemala, the Maya World Untouched for Centuries” in Special-Purpose Travel. Judges cited her “storytelling and courage.”
Amanda Williams took Gold for her work on “A Dangerous Business Travel Blog,” a mix of trip tips and business advice, and CNTraveler earned the top award for Travel Journalism Websites.
Tonya Fitzpatrick, Ian Fitzpatrick and Edward Cole won Gold in Podcasts and Guides, one of two audio categories, for their “Escape From India During COVID-19,” the chilling story of American journalist Anietra Hamper’s fishing trip gone terribly wrong. In the other audio category, Annita Thomas took Gold for “Travel Bags With Annita Explores the Rice Culture of the Southern Low Country” on WDUN AM 550 and FM 102.9 in Gainesville, GA.
The awards are named for Lowell Thomas, acclaimed broadcast journalist, prolific author and world explorer during five decades in travel journalism.
The sustainability of the annual competition is made possible by a generous contribution from Gold Supporter Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise company with a portfolio of brands. Its contribution helps make the prizes possible and supports the future of quality travel media.
End
Awards For Works Published in 2020-2021
FULL LIST OF AWARDS
Silver: Jared Soares, “Historical Interpreters Share Their Sides of the Story,” National Geographic Traveler
Bronze: Pete McBride, “The Last Quiet Places,” Smithsonian Magazine
Bronze: Mark Jenkins, “My Crazy Bid to See a Solar Eclipse at 20,000 Feet,” Outside
Honorable Mention: “As Lunar New Year Approaches, Many Asians Worry About Future Journeys,” Qin Xie, National Geographic Traveler
Silver: Tony Perrottet, “The Way of the Shogun,” Smithsonian Magazine
Honorable Mention: Rachel Ng, “Singapore’s Iconic, But Endangered, Street Food Now Has UNESCO Status,” National Geographic Traveler
Honorable Mention: WanderWithWonder.com, Wander With Wonder, Susan Lanier-Graham, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Gold: Tonya Fitzpatrick, Ian Fitzpatrick and Edward Cole, “Escape From India During COVID-19,” World Footprints
Silver: Liz Beatty and Lia Grainger, “The Hasids of Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Outremont, Montreal — Where Trend Meets Tradition,” North Americana Podcast
Bronze: Nathan Thornburgh, Alexa van Sickle, Tafi Mukunyadzi, Cengiz Yar and Emily Marinoff, “The Trip: Iraq,” Roads & Kingdoms
Honorable Mention: Kellee Edwards, “Let’s Go Together —Visiting With Respect: Learning About Native Cultures in Alaska and Hawaii,” Travel + Leisure
Bronze: Lina Stock and David Stock, Divergent Travelers Adventure Travel Blog, DivergentTravelers.com
See All the Results, Judging Comments and Winning Entries.
The SATW Foundation is proud to present the Winners Gallery, showcasing all the winning entries. At the gallery, click on any category to see the winners by place with comments by the judges. For each award, there are icons to click and see the winning work, either online or in a PDF. In a few cases, such as the magazine and book categories, links are not available.
BetterBNC, the online awards platform the Foundation uses for the contest, provides the Winners Gallery. From the page with the list of categories, you can click the SATW Foundation logo at the top of page to return to the SATW Foundation homepage website or click on your back arrow in the top left hand side of your screen to return to this screen.
We are happy to salute all our winners and showcase their entries. We hope you enjoy seeing their work.
The Prizes
This year, the SATW Foundation is giving 104 awards in 27 categories and $22,550 in prize money to journalists in recognition of outstanding travel journalism.
The Grand Award earns the Gold winner $1,500, the Silver winner $750 and the Bronze place $500.
In individual categories, first-place Gold carries a $500 prize, Silver $250 and Bronze $150. The categories for Best Newspaper Travel Coverage, Best Magazines and Best Travel Journalism Websites are not given monetary awards.
In the 2020-21 contest, the Foundation introduced a new category, the Robert Haru Fisher Award for Travel Health and Safety Coverage. The Fisher award was made possible by a significant bequest from the late Bob Fisher, a past president of SATW and the first president of the SATW Foundation.
The sustainability of the annual competition is made possible by a generous contribution from Gold Supporter Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise company with a portfolio of brands. Its contribution helps make the prizes possible and supports the future of quality travel media.
The sustainability of the annual SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition is supported by a generous contribution from Gold Supporter CARNIVAL CORP., the world’s largest cruise company.
The Society of American Travel Writers Foundation was begun in 1981 by a group of SATW writers, editors and public relations professionals who were concerned about the future of travel journalism.
SATW (the Society of American Travel Writers) is the pre-eminent professional association of travel journalists and communicators. Learn more about this premier networking organization by visiting its website, www.satw.org.
