Travel blogging has come a long way. This much was clear with the award at the recent Travel Media Awards.
No longer the preserve of the gap year traveller or digital nomad, professional travel bloggers are bringing such success to clients that they’re winning national awards.
The Travel Media Award for Innovative Campaign and Content was hotly contested between national publications and large PR companies, as well as a blogger collective.
And the #LoveSabah iambassador campaign was crowned the winning project, marking a fantastic achievement for the world of online media.
The award was presented to the overjoyed team in front of an audience of more than 200 travel industry representatives. With five of the six bloggers in the campaign team also part of Captivate, the award marks a fantastic accolade for both organisations.
It was the first time the Travel Media Awards, descended from the British Travel Press Awards, had a campaign and content category – a recognition said awards director, Giles Harper, that: “this area of travel media and the impact it’s having is growing.”
The campaign was commended by the judges – a panel of more than 50 travel industry and media experts – for generating unique blog, video and social media content and driving fantastic results.
The campaign that brought new eyes to Borneo
#LoveSabah was held across ten days in November 2014. The objective being to highlight Sabah, in Borneo, as a wedding and honeymoon destination.
Five members of Captivate, including directors Sarah and Terry Lee and Abigail King, plus Becky Padmore and Niamh Shields were joined by leading wedding blogger, Elizabeth Muhmood Kane and videographers Lea Amiel and Nicolas Libersalle. They visited Sabah and Brunei with Royal Brunei Airlines, and generated social media, blog posts, cinematic quality video and an eBook. The campaign generated 52 million opportunities to view Borneo across social media channels in just two months.
Captivate founder and iambassador’s UK director, Sarah Lee, said, “I’m very proud to have organised and led such a dedicated team of professional bloggers and digital influencers. Once again we have driven huge bookings for our clients through compelling content and large scale brand awareness – the holy grail of marketing.”
The awards that kept on giving
At the same awards, another member of the Captivate team became the proud winner of the Blogger and Vlogger of the Year award.
Kash Bhattacharya, founder of Budget Traveller was commended for his inspirational work in helping transform the world of travel media.
About the Travel Media Awards
The Travel Media Awards have been created in recognition of the hugely influential role today’s travel media play in the holiday and business travel decision-making process.
Entries are judged by some of the UK’s most influential travel industry figures alongside leading travel writers and editors. Click here to view the full list of awards and winners.