Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Adventure.com Entry Title: Adventure.com Entry Credit: Oliver Pelling, Meera Dattani, Tayla Gentle, Nicola Bailey, Kassondra Cloos Judge Comment: Adventure.com is a first-class travel website that embraces "a more conscious and curious future of travel” to focus on why we travel. The articles connect travelers to the people who live in a destination and the significance of the journey, with topics such as Havana changemakers, traveling with disabilities and searching for ancient trees in New Zealand. The site offers strong writing that highlights the voice and experience of the writer, paired with bright photography to invite readers to imagine themselves on the journey – and to find their own "why" behind a trip. Easy to navigate and endlessly interesting, Adventure.com sparks readers’ imagination with travel accounts and asks bigger questions about the role of travel through news and opinion pieces.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Fodor's Travel Entry Title: Fodor's Travel Entry Credit: Jeremy Tarr, Rachael Levitt, Eva Morreale, Nikki Vargas, Stephen Horowitz Judge Comment: Fodors is a high-performing and comprehensive travel website with engaging content, sleek design and user-friendly navigation. The site offers a diversity of resources and ways to engage with the content, including news articles, hotel and cruise verticals, user-driven forums and meticulously detailed destination guides that cover restaurants, shopping, performing arts, nightlife, neighborhoods and more. The cruise landing page boasts “If it’s here, it’s worth doing,” and that ethos extends to the rest of the site. The deep familiarity of the local writers and the expertise-driven editorial policy stands out, creating a trustworthy and engaging experience.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: KyAnn Lewis Entry Title: KidTripster Entry Credit: KyAnn Lewis, Jason Watkins, Eliza Watkins, Shellie Bailey-Shah Judge Comment: KidTripster is the definition of “know your audience.” The site features content written by both parents and journalists. With hard-won tips about topics as varied as kids’ passport mistakes and age suggestions for different types of experiences, the content is reliable and authoritative. What’s more, some writers at KidTripster are teenagers and kids themselves, offering parents valuable and specific ideas for family travel. The teen-centric vertical is an important offering to families who have outgrown recommendations for kids’ menus and kiddie pools but aren’t quite ready for nightlife. The website is fun and colorful, with effortless navigation.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Catalyst Planet Entry Title: CATALYST PLANET Entry Credit: Amy Schrier Judge Comment: The Catalyst Planet website offers plenty of valuable travel-centric content, including in-depth travel features and guides, yet it also goes a step further to offer a more holistic view of the readers’ place in the world. Going beyond travel, Catalyst Planet highlights the importance of participation – in travel, yes, but also in the responsibility of travel and caretaking of global issues. The content courts “the next generation of activists and conscious travelers” through thoughtful articles; intimate photo essays; advice, tips and cheat sheets; adventure suggestions; and artistic and cultural exploration. The Global Action vertical allows readers to think about their role in issues such as climate change, global health, community development, human rights, racial justice and more.
