Minneapolis, 23 November, 2021: CWT, the Business-to-Business-for-Employees (B2B4E) travel management platform, proudly announces the winners of its 2021 Business Travel Journalism Awards (BTJAs), honoring exceptional journalists and editors from national, consumer, broadcast, and trade media worldwide. Out of hundreds of entries, an independent BTJA judging panel unanimously selected eleven winners for their exemplary and innovative business journalism over the last year.
The ‘Editorial Team of the Year award’ was won by BTN’s global editorial team for their insightful features which artfully unpick pertinent industry issues such as their superb ‘Sustaining the Future supplement’ and their delivery of challenging topics, with both analytical depth and creativity.
Bev Fearis from The Business Travel Magazine was honored as ‘Editor of the Year’. In her first year as editor she made significant strides at the magazine resulting in a brand new website, refreshed magazine and the launch of various new initiatives to interact with their audience, including social media, podcasts, and videos. Rhys Jones from Head for Points was awarded ‘Best Newcomer’. Rhys’ great passion for aviation and in-depth knowledge of the industry are reflected in his well-informed pieces peppered with detailed statistical insights and analysis.
The ‘New Media’ award was introduced for the first time this year and scooped by Mark Frary from BTN Europe for his ‘Week in Review’ podcast series which unpicks pressing issues with poise and urgency.
Gillian Upton won the ‘Industry Trends’ award for her article on the imperative of post-pandemic sustainability for The Business Travel Magazine. Matthew Parsons from Skift won the ‘Technology award’ for his piece on how corporate travel is moving towards a more open ecosystem, in which certain types of technology need to be plugged in. The ‘Ground transportation award’ went to BTN Europe’s contributor Rob Gill, for his feature on how car rental has become more important than ever as we emerge from Covid.
Awards also went to Simon Calder from The Independent for his visionary piece on seaplanes having a bright future as pioneers of electric aviation, Hannah Brandler from Business Traveller for her investigation into the hotel guest experience during the pandemic and the BBC’s Mike MacEacheran for his piece on the environmental impact of plastics in Amsterdam’s canals.
Contributor for BTN Europe Amon Cohen won the specialist award for the most insightful analysis and commentary on the post-pandemic return to travel.
“The 2021 Business Travel Journalism Awards once again uncovered new and exemplary talent in business travel writing along with a raft of new ideas from more established journalists,” said Julian Walker, CWT’s Head of External Market Communications and PR. “The entrants proved skilful in characterizing the main drivers and developments of a complex and dynamic industry.”
Administered and curated by CWT, the BTJAs recognizes distinguished business travel as well as meetings and events reporting for a general audience. Now in its 18th year and open to journalists worldwide, the BTJAs saw a significant influx of entries this year, submitted from across four continents, with the winners selected by an expert judging panel of business travel and meetings managers, industry experts, and respected editors.
The full list of 2021 BTJA winners are:
- New Media: Mark Frary, BTN Europe
- Best Newcomer: Rhys Jones, Head for Points
- Editor of the Year: Bev Fearis, The Business Travel Magazine
- Features Journalist of the Year Accommodation: Hannah Brandler, Business Traveller
- Features Journalist of the Year Air: Simon Calder, The Independent
- Features Journalist of the Year Destination: Mike MacEacheran, BBC
- Features Journalist of the Year Ground Transportation: Rob Gill, BTN Europe
- Features Journalist of the Year Industry Trends: Gillian Upton, The Business Travel Magazine
- Features Journalist of the Year Technology: Matthew Parsons, Skift
- Editorial team of the Year: BTN
- Special Award – Return to travel/Meetings & Events: Amon Cohen, BTN Europe
Read the winning entries on the BTJAs website or watch the announcement on video.
CWT is a Business-to-Business-for-Employees (B2B4E) travel management platform. Companies and governments rely on us to keep their people connected – anywhere, anytime, anyhow – and, across six continents, we provide their employees with innovative technology and an efficient, safe, and secure travel experience.