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. ATW Media Awards 2026 Highlights Excellence in African Tourism Storytelling
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 Order
- Bronze: 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.
