Tag: awards

Dark Chester named finalist in the Marketing Cheshire Tourism Awards

 

It’s official: Dark Chester has been named as a finalist at the Marketing Cheshire Tourism Awards.

The dark-tourism walking tour of the heritage city of Chester received the nod as a finalist for Experience of the Year.

It picked up a second nomination for New Tourism Business of the Year.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at Chester Cathedral on March 21, 2024.

Meanwhile, Dark Chester tours continue weekly over Halloween with a special event on October 26.

Dark Dinner is a collab with the King’s Kitchen at the Brewery Tap, Chester, including a walking tour of the city, then a two-course menu with added spooky stories.

Follow @darkchestertour on Instagram

More information from The Brewery Tap.

Liked this? Then read Dark Chester runs special spooky tours for the Chester Heritage Festival.

Why I made the shortlist for the French Travel Media Awards

It was close but no cigar.

My story about a tour of the French Riviera [pictured above], first published in the Daily Telegraph, was shortlisted this week at the French Travel Media awards.

The article describes a trip in the footsteps of film stars and the Euro glitterati. It was timed around the 70th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival.

Here’s a taster of the text:

I was formulating my bid to be the next James Bond from the casino at Monte Carlo. All I needed was that powder-blue suit from the Hugo Boss store on La Croisette (a snip at a mere €750), a couple of well-promoted selfies on the red carpet outside Le Palais and a bit of luck with the croupier to thwart Le Chiffre’s plan to take over the world from a Monte Carlo gaming table. Watch your back Idris Elba. After a week on the Riviera, there’s a new leading man in the frame.

Better luck next time, then.

I’ve got my eye on Roman Nimes and Monet’s Giverny for next time.

Barbie takes the prize

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I always had high hopes for Barbie.

My story about the Barbie cruise, a trip around the Mediterranean in May this year with Royal Caribbean International [cabin pictured above], won one of the travel-writing awards at the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) awards on Sunday night at London’s Savoy Hotel.

The Telegraph, where the story was published, covered the news with the story Two awards for Telegraph writers.

The BGTW subsequently put out a press release with news of all the winners on the night – Travmedia have it here as Travel Awards To BGTW Journalists Highlight Their Variety Of Topics.

Thanks for the messages of congratulations.

I was, of course, pleased but, more importantly, the Barbie girls were delighted.

We’re already planning our next trip – any suggestions?

Post below.

Dutch Lifestyle travel writing awards 2013

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I’ve won a travel-writing prize.

I’m delighted to say that I picked up the award for Best Article about a Dutch Icon at the annual Taste the Dutch Lifestyle Travel Writer Awards last month.

The awards were organised to honour UK journalists who have written outstanding articles about Holland in 2012.

The winning piece was Holland on a Plate, published in The Daily Express in July 2012.

Here’s an extract:

Farmer’s wife Corrie Balthus greets me with a white-plastic apron and a cheese mould.

She’s been up since six, making cheese in her rustic kitchen at Zeilzicht farm as she has every Friday for over 30 years.

“You need all five senses to make high-quality cheese,” she says, cutting into a eight-year-aged Gouda with a knife more like a sabre.

“You look at the colour and form, listen for the sweetness, crumble and smell it in your hand, and then taste it.”

More about the awards from the press section of Holland.com.

Liked this? Read about another win – the Golden Pen award from the Croatian National tourist Board.

And post your comments below.