(Posted 15th April 2026)
Third annual Media Awards celebrate excellence in African travel journalism across five categories.
Africa Travel Week (ATW) has announced the winners of its 2026
Media Awards, honouring the journalists, photographers and content creators bringing Africa's
travel and tourism stories to global audiences.
Now in its third year, the ATW Media Awards received a record number of entries –
over 170 across five categories: Sustainability Feature Award, Visual Tourism Award, Tourism
News Award, Destination Feature Award and the Young Talent Award. All were evaluated by a
world-class judging panel comprising wildlife photographer and Canon ambassador Ellie
Rothnie, Kojo Bentum-Williams of VoyagesAfriq, Barry Nield of CNN Travel, Divia Thani of
Condé Nast Traveller and Tom Hall of Lonely Planet.
“These awards exist to shine a light on the storytellers who shape how the world sees
Africa,”says Olivia Gradidge, Marketing Manager (WTM Africa & ILTM Africa) at RX Africa, the
host and architect of Africa Travel Week. “The quality of entries this year reflects the depth of
talent working in African travel media, and we congratulate every finalist and winner.”
2026 ATW Media Awards Winners
Sustainability Feature Award
Gold: Bella Falk, BBC Wildlife Magazine – Dog Stars: On the Trail of African Wild
DogsSilver: Savanna Strauss, Rewilding Southern Africa – Rewilding Giants
Bronze: Tafadzwa Mwanengureni, Minority Africa – They Escaped Their Husbands. Then They
Took on Poachers.
Visual Tourism Award
Gold: Wiktoria West, Rewilding Southern Africa – Eastern Chimpanzee
Silver: Bella Falk, Passports & Pixels – Ugandan Group of Dancers
Bronze: Aaron Fishbein – The Basotho Herdsman
Tourism News Award
Gold: Jane Gatwiri, NTV Kenya – Twigas on Transit
Silver: Morgan Barnard, Social Safari Africa – Marriott International was preparing to open its
new Ritz-Carlton Safari Camp in Kenya's Maasai Mara
Bronze: Dale Hes, Tourism Update – AI's Gatekeeper Role: A Threat to African Tourism
Destination Feature Award
Gold: Sam Kemp, National Geographic Traveller UK – Sierra Leone: After the Storm
Joint Silver: Charlotte Wigram-Evans, National Geographic Traveller – Uganda: We are One
Joint Silver: Lorna Parkes, National Geographic Traveller UK – Kenya: Natural
OrderBronze: Victor Ayeni, Punch Newspapers – Nigeria: Sango's Festival Where Ancient Rites
Ignite Fire, Thunder
Young Talent Award
Gold: Shereefdeen Ahmad, The Liberalist – How Schengen Visa Denials Are Shutting Africans
Out of the Global Stage
Silver: Savanna Strauss, Rewilding Southern Africa – Is Silence Going Extinct?
Bronze: William Muthama, K24 Digital – List of KWS Parks and Reserves You Can Visit for Free
on Saturday
“In a media environment flooded with AI-generated content and deepfakes, what we saw in
these entries was a reminder of why real journalism still matters,” says Dorine Reinstein from
Big Ambitions, ATW’s PR partner. “"The 2026 winners represent the very best of that
community: writers, photographers and journalists producing pieces that were grounded, well-
researched and honestly told.”
The 2026 ATW Media Awards were presented at the end of Day 1 of WTM Africa during Africa
Travel Week.
