June 3, 2016: Trinidad and Tobago won awards at this year’s Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) Travel Media Awards with journalists producing articles promoting travel to our twin island Republic earning two (2) of the top honours.
The winners of the Media Awards were revealed at the exclusive Awards Luncheon during Caribbean Week celebrations today (Thursday June 02) at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York.
Honoured journalists and their Trinidad and Tobago stories are as follows:
- Mermen Come Calling by prolific writer Sharon Millar that appeared in the consumer newspaper category in the New York Times. This is a story on the folkloric legends of Tobago
- Salt and Shimmer: Down the Islands by Rachelle Hay, a lifestyle online blogger. This award was selected by the public in an online vote.
The Honourable Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Tourism, joined other Caribbean ministers of tourism and officials representing island nations at the CTO Caribbean Week and was on hand to receive the awards. Minister Cudjoe congratulated the travel journalists “for evoking and bringing to life important aspects of Trinidad and Tobago’s lifestyle and tourism product. This is quite an achievement for Trinidad and Tobago as these stories reinforce the reputation of Trinidad and Tobago as a uniquely exciting tourist destination”.
We are proud that Trinidad and Tobago featured strongly in this year`s CTO Travel media Awards; having had four (4) entries in the shortlist for awards. We extend special congratulations to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation for their immense work in promoting and fostering the development of sustainable tourism within the region”.
The CTO recognises, during the Caribbean Week celebration in New York, travel journalists for their outstanding coverage. Awards were presented in ten (10) categories; including the Best of Show – the top entry among the winning submissions – for work produced in 2015. The top entry was an article on lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) travel in the Caribbean by Joe Pike of Travel Agent magazine.
This year’s Travel Awards saw phenomenal participation as Caribbean Tourism Organisation received a record 147 qualified entries for the US and Caribbean travel writers and photographers. This figure represented an increase of over 40% over 2015 and nearly double the annual average.
