The rapidly evolving world of digital influencers will be recognised with a prestigious honour from the inaugural International Travel & Tourism Awards, presented by WTM London.

Contenders from across the world entered the awards earlier this year and entries were whittled down by a panel of expert judges to a shortlist of just five.

The award category is sponsored by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the winner will be announced to an audience of more than 500 leading industry figures – including government ministers – during a prestigious awards ceremony at London’s Grade I-listed Tobacco Dock, near WTM London’s ExCeL venue (Tuesday 6 November).

Michael Ball, Co-Founder of digital marketing agency Traverse, was one of the category judges, and hailed the wide range of entries.

He said: “We’ve had some great entries: you’ve got the multi-platforms, the different ways that people write, create videos and take photos. It’s fantastic to see so many different types of entries.

“It continues to show the world how content creators and digital influencers are constantly evolving.

“Maybe three or four years ago in this category we would have seen bloggers and maybe one Youtube channel but now we see such a huge variation. I think it shows the influencers are constantly innovating and changing their styles.”

• Travel blogger Omar Oualili writes inacitynearyou.net, an award-winning city-break blog featuring tips about his travels to more than 100 cities in 48 countries.He said: “I was very happy to be shortlisted at such a big awards show in the travel industry. Even though it is in its first year, its positive impact is already felt around the industry.

  “I announced the news right away when I learned I was shortlisted and it was met with great support from my followers.

  “I can’t wait for the awards show which will be a great night celebrating my blog ‘In A City Near You’, alongside other amazing shortlisted projects and a fantastic opportunity for networking too.”

• Abigail King, creator of Inside The Travel Lab, has been shortlisted for the ‘Louisiana with Baby’ project, which chronicled a two-week fly-drive trip through Louisiana with her husband and baby.Social media updates reached an audience of 80,000 and the project attracted national media coverage.

  She said: “The ‘Louisiana with Baby’ project was driven by passion and a hope that travel after children would not only be possible but also enjoyable.

  “It was fantastic to connect with so many people who shared the same dream (and concerns) and we’re absolutely thrilled to see our work recognised in this way. Thanks so much for the vote of confidence.”

• Travel blogger Ana Duék is dedicated to raising awareness about sustainable tourism inBrazil and Latin America.Within just two years, her blog and website, Viajar Verde, has become recognised as the main website and reference on responsible tourism in Brazil.

  She has more than 12,000 page views per month, and 7,800 followers on Facebook, with fans drawn from the general public and the travel industry.

  She said: “It is an honour to be shortlisted. The awards are an amazing opportunity to showcase and inspire great initiatives in the industry and I hope I can represent Brazil as a country that cares about Responsible Tourism. I first came to London to take my Master’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality and I am excited to be back celebrating my achievements.”

• The DJH #CastleHostels campaign was a low-budget, high-impact campaign designed to increase awareness of historic German youth hostels among the UK family market.The campaign was created by the Family Adventure Project and Budget Traveller, working with the Jugendherberge hostel association.

  Kirstie Pelling from the Family Adventure Project said: “The engaging live social media campaign promoted the hostels and their surroundings to two different niches – family and budget travellers.

  “The post-trip production of a series of evergreen videos, e-books and blog posts created a range of long-term assets suitable for any market.

  “We are delighted the International Travel and Tourism Awards have recognised the ambition, imagination and success of this campaign and how multiple influencers and organisations can work together to reach different target markets.”

• Marko and Alex Ayling – aka Vagabrothers – fuse storytelling with cinematic film-making optimised for the YouTube generation.
  Within five years, they created an audience of more than 650,000 subscribers from 140-plus countries.

Look out for news about other shortlisted candidates and the announcement of the winners on the awards website awards.wtm.com or social media:
@IntTTAwards and #IntTTAwards.