The Experientialist Awards by OutThere was born during the time of COVID-19, seeking to recognise and champion creativity, innovation, resilience and stewardship in the luxury travel industry.
The Experientialist is our response to everything that is happening right now, our ‘pop-up platform’ to bring feel-good factor, optimism and news to our readers, followers and the luxury travel industry at large under the banner of #KeepYourMindTravelling. We also aim to aid positive mental health – through inspiring and feeding wanderlusts – during the quarantine and highlight the amazing and selfless travel brands that are putting the needs of their staff, customers and the public ahead of their own.
Thank you! We raised £5,000 from entry donations to go to the winner of the Most OutThere initiative in community, conservation and sustainability
The awards
Our mission is simple: to recognise and champion creativity, innovation, resilience and stewardship in the luxury travel industry, linked closely to our brand pillars of diversity, discovery and discernment. For our inaugural awards, we look to applaud the luxury brands and people from across our beautiful world, that have delivered truly OutThere initiatives – that are feel-good, positive and uplifting – through ingenious activities, original and dynamic campaigns, unparalleled leadership and community-first approaches in their part of the industry.
A huge congratulations to all the entrants that made it to our Experientialist Awards shortlist. There were hundreds of fabulous and worthy entries this year, which made it very hard to decide (and debate) who would be honoured as finalists. The quality of entries was extremely high, alas only six brands can be shortlisted in each category. Our panel of esteemed judges worked extremely hard to take the following OutThere brands through to the finals…
The following four categories award the luxury and experiential travel brands that have demonstrated unparalleled excellence during the COVID pandemic.
Most OutThere travel brand
The six most revolutionary, mindful and forward-looking travel brands that have demonstrated unrivalled innovation, creativity and excellence across all aspects of their operations over the months that COVID temporarily paused travel.
Belmond
Carrier
Cookson Adventures
Out Adventures
Quinta do Lago
Six Senses
Most OutThere campaign
These six stunning campaigns were developed by truly inspirational brands over the COVID months, brimmed with optimism and have kept the enduring spirit of experiential travel alive.
Reignite your love for travel – ACCOR
At home with Six Senses – Six Senses
Beyond the clouds, there is always light – JNTO
#InThePink – The Langham Hotels & Resorts
NIZUC at home – NIZUC Resort & Spa
Reconnect with the world – Tahiti Tourisme
Most OutThere champion
These six selfless individuals and heroes have shown amazing leadership and driven fantastic initiatives in these unprecedented times – both internal and external – to ensure that their brands not just weather the COVID storm, but also do good for their teams and the communities they operate in.
Calum Franklin & Nokx Majozi – Rosewood London
Georgie Davidson – Boschendal
John Roberts – Anantara
Malik Fernando – Resplendent Ceylon
Robert Sharp – Out Adventures
Roque Sevilla – Metropolitan Touring
Most OutThere initiative in community, conservation and sustainability
It has been heartwarming to see so many brands continue to champion and garner support for their projects in community, conservation and sustainability, despite having to pause their operations and not receive funding from guest revenue, but these six are particularly deserving for the hard work they have done over the time travel came to a pause.
*The winner of this category will receive the £5,000 collected from entry donations to help fund their project.
Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy
ACCOR – All Heartist Fund
Bill Bensley x Shinta Mani Foundation
Ride 4 Rangers
Six Senses – Give Rice
Sol y Luna Foundation
The following six categories for the Experientialist Awards shortlist are unrelated to COVID, but celebrate the luxury travel brands, that like us, are rooted in diversity, discovery and discernment at any time and linked to the six OutThere traveller profiles.
The Adventurer award
The six most adventurous brands from a long list of worthy entries, these travel providers have a real sense of discovery, one that gets their customers out into the great outdoors and pushes their boundaries.
62°NORD
Another World Adventures
Cookson Adventures
Ecoventura
Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild
Uncruise Adventures
The Culturalist award
These six shortlisted brands have and celebrate “culture” at their very heart, not just limited to the Arts, but also the local community and destination that they’re in.
Fotografiska New York
Kristiania Lech
Out Adventures
Schloss Elmau
The Siam x Smiling Albino
Uncruise Adventures
The Escapist award
These six escapist journeys celebrate ‘getting away from it all’, wellbeing and peace of mind, all worthy finalists from an absolutely mammoth list of entries each vying to make the Experientialist Awards shortlist.
57 Nord
Chablé Hotels
COMO Hotels
Kudadoo
São Lourenço do Barrocal
SHA Wellness
The Hedonist award
We loved judging this “just because” category, and have shortlisted six of the most simply indulgent, mindblowing properties and experiences rooted in fun and celebration.
Badrutt’s Palace
Eden Rock St Barths
Iconic Luxury Hotels
The Nautilus Maldives
SO/ Hua Hin
Tel Aviv
The Insider award
These six brands are all centred around ‘being in the know’ – they’re otherwise hard to access journeys, but made available because of the brand’s innovation, creativity and connections.
Abercrombie & Kent
Another World Adventures
Ayu in the Wild
Carrier
Gleneagles
Tuscany Now & More
The Sophisticate award
The most hotly contested category of these whole awards, the judges pondered, debated and reconsidered many times over as to which of the luxurious, taste-making, out-of-this-world properties, journeys and experiences they would shortlist. These are their final six.
Abercrombie & Kent Ultra-Lux Collection
Arijiju
Monaco
Oetker Collection
Post Ranch Inn
The Siam
Meet our Experientialist judges
Our judging panel is made up of a diverse cross-section of some of the best editors and travel writers in experiential travel. A special thank you to all our Experientialist judges for taking the time to deliberate over what has been a hundred and fifty plus entries.
Alex Temblador Alex is an award-winning author and a freelance travel writer best known for her coverage of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her work has appeared in outlets like Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, TravelPulse, Outside, Vice, Architectural Digest, Culture Trip, TimeOut, The Daily Beast, Lonely Planet, among many others.
Andrew Headspeath Andrew is the former APAC Editor at Culture Trip, working with local writers and renowned hospitality brands to boost tourism in Southeast Asia. With proud Filipino heritage, he is passionate about elevating queer and BIPOC voices in travel. Andrew has written for publications including CNN and Attitude, and was shortlisted for Young Travel Writer of the Year 2019 at the AITO Awards.
Caoilfhionn Macguire Caoilfhionn is a travel writer and photographer contributing to Arcadia, Elle, Gay Times & The Culture Trip, among others. Caoilfhionn owns Crusoe Collective, a content creation agency for sustainable travel & lifestyle brands. From hotels and fashion houses, to tourist boards and global beer brands, Caoilfhionn uses the power of photography & video to create emotive, consumer-led stories.
Francisca Kellett Francisca has 20 years’ experience as a travel editor, writer and columnist for some of the world’s leading publications, including Tatler, The Daily Telegraph, House & Garden, National Geographic, The Times and The FT. She co-founded Mundi & Co in 2018, a creative agency that provides exceptional content for exceptional brands, and is regarded as an industry expert on luxury and sustainable travel.
Hollie-Rae Brader Hollie-Rae is editor of luxury travel trade magazine Aspire. Since taking the helm at Aspire in 2016 she has increased the magazine’s frequency and grown its distribution. To ensure the magazine is the leading title for luxury travel sellers she also introduced a string of networking and thought-leadership events and offers consumer marketing tools for her readers. Prior to joining Aspire, Hollie was deputy news editor and cruise reporter at sister title Travel Weekly.
Jenny Southan Jenny is Editor and Founder of Globetrender, an online magazine and trend forecasting agency dedicated to the future of travel. She specialises in forward-looking, consumer-facing editorial as well as trend reports, research and consulting services for the travel industry. She is also a freelance travel writer and contributor on titles like Mr Porter, Conde Nast Traveller and City AM.
Jonathan Thompson JT is a multi award-winning travel writer and the US travel correspondent for The Sunday Times. As a freelancer, he contributes to a wide range of publications on both sides of the Atlantic, from Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler to Tatler, National Geographic Traveller, Mr. Porter, GQ and Esquire.
LoAnn Halden LoAnn Halden has spent the past 20 years exploring the world and supporting LGBTQ+ travel as a writer, editor and currently as VP-Communications for the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA).
Lottie Gross Lottie is a freelance travel writer and editor. She has reported for the UK’s Daily Telegraph, BBC Radio 4 and World Service and has acted as a digital editor for multiple high-profile publishers and magazines.
Martin Perry Martin is co-Founder and Creative Director of OutThere and heads up OutThere/Studio, the first-of-its-kind brand engagement agency that specialises in diverse and inclusive content for destinations and travel brands.
Uwern Jong Uwern is co-Founder and Experientialist-in-Chief at OutThere, celebrating a decade of publishing as an award-winning luxury and experiential travel journal rooted in diversity, discovery and discernment.
The Experientialist Awards winners
The four Experientialist Awards winners will be shortlisted and selected by a panel of handpicked judges.
For the six OutThere awards, the shortlist will be decided on by a judging panel and the final winner voted for by OutThere readers.
All winners will be showcased in OutThere’s Spring 2021 issue and online. We hope to be able to host an awards presentation event and celebrate the winners (to coincide with OutThere’s 10th birthday party!), but in this current climate, we will have to wait and see if that is possible.
The prize for each category winner will be a £15,000 / US$18,000 advertising package*, and in addition, the winner of the ‘most OutThere initiative in community, conservation and sustainability’ will receive proceeds of the donations made by entrants.
