🏆 BGTW PR Recognition Award: Best Agency/Freelance Travel PR

Winner: Ian Weightman, @WeightmanPR.

Highly commended: Alison Cryer MBE, @RepPlusUK.

Congratulations to both!

In partnership with @TravMedia_UK.

#BGTWAwards2026

In case you were ever in any doubt, this is “why Stoke-on-Trent is so brilliant” - according to Sunday Times’ travel columnist Ben Aitken. The feature appeared in the paper at the weekend and can be read (and heard, in 7 minutes and 16 seconds) here: bit.ly/47sAP1l

At the same time that Derby was highlighted in a roundup of “Autumn’s tastiest mini-breaks” in The i’s travel pages at the weekend, here - hot off the press - is the link to Visit Derby’s latest travel media ‘News in Brief' newsletter: bit.ly/4xZedQA

Meanwhile, in other news…. bgtw.org/awards/pr-reco….
Absolutely thrilled and delighted to be a finalist. Thank you, one-and-all at the British Guild of Travel Writers. Here’s to each and every finalist named in this year’s #BGTW Awards…

Good to bring city council, civic, education, business, community and cultural stakeholder partners together to share more information on Stoke-on-Trent’s ambitions to progress an application to become a designated UNESCO Creative City. The intelligence gathering and programme mesobridge

It's a good moment for David Parr House, in Cambridge. A six page feature in the current issue of Period Living magazine, available online at PocketMags bit.ly/3T2zGd2; and featured by new online culture magazine Tint bit.ly/4xkLgyf. (IMAGE CREDIT: Lois Maher)

Here’s the September 'News in Brief' media newsletter @VisitDerby, giving #travel writers, editors & influencers access to news, upcoming events & blogs from the city. This time: a fresh look at Dracula, Lara Croft and Peter Pan! bit.ly/4xg1WXV

Highlights of a new trail in The Ardennes - by Caroline Mills in The Daily Telegraph. Following in the “fantastical footsteps” of Arduinna - mythological Celtic goddess - on a 219m trail, through France and Belgium. bit.ly/4xLhLad
(Image ©Thomas Gérard - Noody Prod)

We were all invited to see artist Joseph Wright @NationalGallery, but @VisitDerby is where the story begins: his home city; a place that shaped him; home of industry, invention, light & shadow. THIS is "Why Derby needs to be on your radar" bit.ly/4qsSajm
(Image PICTORIA)

This is the August 'News in Brief' media newsletter @VisitDerby, giving #travel writers, editors & influencers access to news, upcoming events & blogs from the city. This month, bringing Hollywood, "bustle" and a Wild Sauna to Derby bit.ly/3RLu1HV
Image: @aechphotography

Derby: where to drink and what to see - according to British Beer Breaks co-authors, Kate Simon and Phil Mellows. After revisiting destinations included in their book, this “offers a handy update to the city for a day-trip (or more)”. @VisitDerby...
bit.ly/4yerh69

David Parr House was featured in Guardian 'Travel' - coinciding with the opening of the new Cambridge South railway station. A great read, it’s also a fabulous intro “to some of the university city’s lesser-known treasures on foot or by public transport”.
bit.ly/3QNy5a4

Here's the link to the July 'News in Brief' newsletter @VisitDerby, giving #travel writers, editors and influencers access to news, upcoming events and blogs from the city. Everything from a 'Top 10' hotel, to a Hot Goth Summer.
bit.ly/4v03h3V

Ready for take-off - at David Parr House, Cambridge: #PicturesforSchools, 1 July to 8 August. Art from the post-war initiative founded by #NanYoungman, including one seen on BBC’s 'Fake of Fortune'. bit.ly/4uI5ulf
Image: Robert H Lee, ‘Apollo 2, The Visor’ © Robjn Cantus

An 'insider tip' from The French Ardennes... In the heart of Rumigny, Château de la Cour des Pres is a romantic 16th century fortified house that offers B&B to guests in two rooms during July and August. bit.ly/4foal6g
(Image credit: Loic Lagarde)

Here's the link to the June 'News in Brief' @VisitDerby, giving #travel writers, editors and influencers access to news, upcoming events and blogs from the city. Everything from a Lara Croft exhibition, to a Biodiversity & Regenerative Food Festival.
bit.ly/3Rn6psC

Coming soon…
A new Grand Route: 'Ardenne Tour, in the footsteps of Arduinna' is a 350km loop round the French and Belgian Ardennes. The route can be completed in fifteen stages, of around 23km per day. Launches Autumn:
bit.ly/3Puw41Q
Image credit: ADTA, ©David Truillard

A terrific image of a cosplayer outside the #MuseumofMaking in Derby. A clever 'mash-up' - given that Lara Croft was 'made' in the city, and that there will be a lively series of exhibitions and events staged there during this, her 30th 'birthday', year.
Image credit: @VisitDerby

Here's the link to the May 'News in Brief' @VisitDerby, giving #travel writers, editors and influencers access to news, upcoming events and blogs from the city. Stories this month include an art-historian influencer’s 'take' on "Wright of Derby". bit.ly/3OIGGKb

A great moment - seeing this post from David Parr House in Cambridge go viral bit.ly/3QztnfB. Exactly the kind of profile this place deserves... (But I guess it means we can no longer call it a "hidden gem"!)
#ArtsAndCrafts