Winners announced for Inspire Global Media Awards 2026

Inspire Global is delighted to announce the WINNERS AND HIGHLY COMMENDED for the 4th annual Inspire Global Media Awards 2026. The winners were announced at an exclusive event in London on Monday 13th April 2026.

Os IGMAs reconhecem a excelência em todo o cenário da mídia de viagens, celebrando indivíduos e organizações que dão vida a histórias de turismo sustentável e de impacto positivo.

POSITIVE IMPACT OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION

RECOGNITION – Graham Boynton

POSITIVE IMPACT STORYTELLER OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Daniel James Clarke

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Steph Dyson

POSITIVE IMPACT STORY PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

CONSUMER FEATURE OF THE YEAR – UK & IRELAND BASED WRITERS

ENGLAND

WINNER – John Harris para Wild camping the easy way: how a secret Exmoor trip pleased everyone – including the farmer published in The Guardian

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Yvette Cook para The sleeper train holiday to Cornwall that doesn’t cost the Earth published in O Independente

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BRITISH ISLES (exc. ENGLAND) & IRELAND

WINNER – Lily Canter para Is this off-grid Scottish community the ultimate model for sustainable living in Britain today? published in Aventura.com

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Robin McKelvie para I’ve visited more than 100 countries – but nothing compares to this Scottish island published in O telégrafo

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NORDIC REGION

WINNER – Sam Haddad para Deserted islands, seagrass meadows and endless ocean: kayaking in Sweden’s new marine national park published in The Guardian

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Ailsa Sheldon para Eating the Archipelago published in Revista de viagens JRNY

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EUROPE – WEST/CENTRAL/EAST

WINNER – Yvette Cook para How women are reviving traditional Seto culture in Estonia published in O Independente

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Emma Truscott para The European bike trail that hits three countries in a day published in BBC Travel

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MEDITERRANEAN & NORTH AFRICA

WINNER – Daniel Stables para From kasbahs to couscous—how Sicily has celebrated its diversity through the centuries published in Viajante National Geographic (Reino Unido)

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Jessica Heather para Far from the crowds: A guide to Portugal’s lesser-known Côa Valley published in Aventura.com

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AFRICA & INDIAN OCEAN

WINNER – Bella Falk para Making a Splash published in Travel Africa Magazine

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Sue Watt para Kavango-Zambezi – Foundations published in Travel Africa Magazine

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ASIA

WINNER – Farida Zeynalova para Explore Azerbaijan’s wine history – and its unexpected German past published in Viajante National Geographic (Reino Unido)

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Angela Locatelli para The Stuff of Legends published in Viajante National Geographic (Reino Unido)

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AUSTRALASIA & OCEANIA

WINNER – Lauren Jarvis para Since Time published in OutThere Magazine

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Karen Edwards para In the footsteps of the ancestors published in Revista de viagens JRNY

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NORTH AMERICA – CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES

WINNER – Kate Eshelby para Mālama: The word embodying the spirit of Hawaii published in BBC Travel

HIGHLY COMMENDED – James March para North America’s First Indigenous-owned Winery published in TONIC Magazine

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CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO

WINNER – Robyn Wilson para The five-day trek in the Guatemalan jungle that’s worth every blister published in O Independente

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Steph Dyson para How dreamy ‘cloud forests’ make this central American country an ideal alternative to Costa Rica published in O Independente

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THE CARIBBEAN

WINNER – Sarah Lee para From caves to coral reefs, this is how you can discover the wild side of Turks & Caicos published in Viajante National Geographic (Reino Unido)

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Rory Buccheri para Meet the family pioneering the Caribbean’s first ‘climate-smart islands’ published in Aventura.com

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SOUTH AMERICA & ANTARCTICA

WINNER – Katy Dartford para 24 hours in Lima published in Globetrotter Magazine

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Rupert Mellor para Resist this! published in OutThere Magazine

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GLOBAL

WINNER – Steph Dyson para Should you use AI to plan your travels? published in Aventura.com

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Stuart Kenny para Why Does Watching Bad Tourists on TV Make Us Want to Travel? published in Much Better Adventures

CONSUMER FEATURE OF THE YEAR – INTERNATIONAL WRITERS

UK, EUROPE & NORDIC REGION

WINNER – Daniel James Clarke para Exploring Portugal’s historic hilltop hamlets in a free electric hire car published in The Guardian

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Asia London Palomba para In Ireland, a Stone Age wellness therapy is making a comeback published in The Washington Post

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ASIA

WINNER – Veidehi Gite para Science and sustainability with the Baiga Tribe of Bandhavgarh published in Outlook Traveller

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Samantha Falewee para “Mongolia’s Shifting Tourism Industry—And What It Means for the Country’s Nomads” published in Conde Nast Traveller

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AUSTRALASIA & OCEANIA

WINNER – Ellie Cobb para The Indian Ocean’s laidback paradise on Earth published in BBC Travel

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Sarah Reid para A year ago, this South Pacific territory was off-limits. What’s it like to visit now? published in Aventura.com

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AFRICA, ARABIA & INDIAN OCEAN

WINNER – Jonny Bierman para Remembering Jane Goodall published in Travel + Leisure

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AMERICAS, THE CARIBBEAN & ANTARCTICA

WINNER – Emily Barlow para For hikers, this is one of the world’s best-preserved Inca roads. And no, it’s not the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu published in Aventura.com

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Annie Brown Verdin para What does freedom taste like? We meet the recipe-keepers of the first free Black town in the Americas published in Aventura.com

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GLOBAL

WINNER – Suzie Dundas para The Price of Paradise: Luxury Travel Can Save the World’s Wildest Places, but at What Cost? published in Matador Network

TRADE FEATURE OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Zanny Merullo para Visiting Indigenous Communities in the Yucatan Peninsula published in Travel Age West

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Jessica Reid para ‘We just want to be accepted’: When TTG met India’s ‘third gender’ community published in Mídia TTG

TELEVISION BROADCAST OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Mark Julian Edwards para Welcome to Sri Lanka broadcast on The Jet Set TV Show

PODCAST / AUDIO PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Mary Novakovich para Krapanj’s sponge divers broadcast on BBC Radio 4

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Richard Hammond & Holly Tuppen para Community Tourism: What does good community tourism look like and can we measure its benefits? broadcast on It’s a Journey – a sustainable travel podcast

TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Carolyn Boyd para Amuse Bouche published by Profile Books

TRAVEL GUIDE OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Emma Gibbs para Scotland’s North Highlands – 1st edition published by Bradt Guides

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Daniel James Clarke para Pocket Algarve – 3terceiro edition published by Lonely Planet

BLOG STORY OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Ana Duek para “Community-based tourism itinerary in the Amazon: an immersion in the Rio Negro” publicado em Viajar Verde

HIGHLY COMMENDED – Lucy Ruthnum para Lukomir Village – Visiting Bosnia’s Most Remote Village publicado em Absolutely Lucy

VLOG OF THE YEAR

Shivya Nath para Slow travel in Bali published on YouTube

SHORT-REEL OF THE YEAR

Veidehi Gite for Cairo published on The Krazy Butterfly Instagram Channel

PHOTO OF THE YEAR - COMMISSIONED

People & Community

WINNER – Lauren Mowery for images featured in Of Craft and Humanity: Tracing the Modern Silk Road through Uzbekistan published in Azure Road

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Wildlife & Environment

WINNER – Lynn Gail for images featured in Rare Breed published in International Traveller

Role para cima