The Experientialist Awards Shortlist

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.