Outstanding Canadian travel journalists recognized at CTO Caribbean Tourism Awards event

TORONTO, Canada, 17 Nov, 2015 –   Some of Canada’s top travel writers and photographers were celebrated at an exclusive event here in recognition of their outstanding coverage of the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the region’s tourism development agency, presented awards to seven journalists for the exceptional role they played in 2014 in driving Caribbean tourism through their coverage of the region.

“Canada remains an important market for the Caribbean. Of course, as the US dollar made gains against the Canadian dollar, travel to the Caribbean by Canadians became relatively more expensive since many of the regional currencies are pegged to the US dollar. However, for the first half of the year more Canadian tourists visited the Caribbean month-over-month without exception up to the end of June,” CTO secretary general Hugh Riley said.

An estimated 2.1 million Canadians visited the region during the first half of the year, with Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica the dominant destinations, while several other destinations with smaller market shares have emerged with the best performances.

The awards were presented at the CTO Travel Media Awards Luncheon, which formed part of the organization’s Caribbean Tourism Awards programme, at Rosewater on Tuesday 17 November, as part of the programme of activities for Caribbean Week Canada.

The following are the winners:

 

Been There, Wrote That – Best Feature Article In A Consumer Magazine

Josephine Matyas– Living in the Past (Nevis) – Doctor’s Review

I Couldn’t Have Written Better Myself – Best Feature In A Consumer Newspaper

Hélène Clément – St-Pierre Ressuscitée (Martinique)- Le Devoir

 

Inner Circle Queen– Best Feature Article In A Trade Publication

Ilona Kauremszky- A New St. Kitts- Travel Industry Today

 

Virtual Visitor Award – Best Online Feature

Jim Byers – St. Lucia: Romance is a Caribbean cocktail of flowers, sea breeze – The Star

Not Lost in Translation (Best Feature by a Canadian Journalist that appeared in Foreign Consumer Media)

Mark Stevens – Martinique: The Belle Island  – All At Sea

Not Lost in Translation (Best Feature by a Canadian Journalist that appeared in Foreign Trade Media)

Melanie Reffes –  Pretty in Puerto Rico – Jax Fax

 

Oh Snap!– Best Photograph accompanying a feature 

Sharon Matthews-Stevens- The Other Virgin Islands (St. John’s, USVI) –  Canadian Yachting

They Like Me, They Really Like Me! – Best of the Best

Josephine Matyas– Living in the Past (Nevis) – Doctor’s Review

Some 70 entries were received this year’s awards which were judged by a panel of media and public relations experts led by chief judge, Tim Doyle, a Toronto-based writer, editor and media executive who helped drive the digital transformation of many of Canada’s major newsrooms. The remaining judges were Elizabeth Kerr who has been in the magazine publishing industry for over 20 years as owner/publisher of Canadian Yachting, – Canada’s only national boating lifestyle magazine;  Anna Hobbs, one of the founding editors of Canadian Living, which became Canada’s leading family magazine; Jeff Lake, managing partner and senior vice president of Punch Canada, an award-winning public relations firm;  Jayne Lloyd-Jones, co-founder of the public relations firm, Spectacular Ink and Gaven Dumont, senior managing partner at The Montréal Office, a public relations and brand management company.

Caribbean Week Canada is supported by by Air Canada Vacations, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Caribbean Airlines, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Hibiscus International, Jamaica, Kalinago Beach Resort (Grenada), Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, The Atrebor Group, Transat Tours Canada, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos.

– ENDS –

About the Caribbean Tourism Organization

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados and offices in New York and London, is the Caribbean’s tourism development agency comprising membership of over 30 countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members. The CTO’s vision is to position the Caribbean as the most desirable, year round, warm weather destination, and its purpose is Leading Sustainable Tourism – One Sea, One Voice, One Caribbean.

Among the benefits to its members the organization provides specialized support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development, marketing, communications, advocacy, human resource development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.

In addition the CTO, in partnership with the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, jointly and equally owns the Caribbean Tourism Development Company, a marketing and business development entity dedicated to promoting the Caribbean brand worldwide.

The CTO’s Headquarters is located at Baobab Tower, Warrens, St. Michael, Barbados BB 22026; Tel: (246) 427-5242; Fax: (246) 429-3065; E-mail: CTObarbados@caribtourism.com

The CTO’s New York office is located at 80 Broad St., Suite 3302, New York, NY 10004, USA: Tel: (212) 635-9530; Fax: (212) 635-9511; E-mail: CTOny@caribtourism.com;

The CTO’s London office is located at The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1BP, England. Tel: 011 44 208 948 0057; Fax: 011 44 208 948 0067; E-mail: CTOlondon@caribtourism.com;

For more information on the Caribbean Tourism Organization please visit www.OneCaribbean.org. Get the latest CTO updates on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ctotourism. Connect with CTO on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CaribbeanTourismOrganization.

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