Anita Rani to receive Special Contribution Award at Travel Media Awards 2026

2 September 2026 : Broadcaster, author and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Anita Rani will receive the Special Contribution Award at this year's Travel Media Awards, held at The Savoy on Monday 26 October.

The award recognises someone who has made a significant contribution to travel storytelling — on screen, on air or in print — and this year’s judges were unanimous in their decision.

Rani is known to millions through BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, which she presents every Thursday and Friday, and more than a decade fronting BBC One's Countryfile. In 2025, audiences saw a different side to her in Celebrity Race Across the World, where she travelled with her father, Bal, across the Caribbean and Colombia. Rani has since spoken about what those five weeks meant to her, calling it a privilege to share them with her dad, given that proper holidays were never part of a childhood built around her parents' work ethic.

Travel runs through the rest of her career, too. As an ambassador for Discover the World she’s reported from Iceland, the Arctic and Costa Rica and, as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador she’s travelled to Kyrgyzstan to meet stateless families and narrated Forced to Flee, a podcast told entirely in the words of displaced people, which went on to win a Webby Award. She’s also Chancellor of the University of Bradford and is The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Right Sort of Girl.

In 2025, Rani launched her YouTube channel, ItsAnitaRani, followed in 2026 by Sisters of Defiance, her acclaimed video and audio podcast celebrating extraordinary women and the stories behind their success. The first series featured guests including Dame Meera Syal, Emma Grede, Gisèle Pelicot, Beverley Knight and Anoushka Shankar, reaching number one in two Apple podcast categories and earning a place on The Guardian’s Best Podcasts of 2026 So Far. Following the success of its debut series, Sisters of Defiance will return for a second season later this year.

Rani said: “Travel broadens your horizons, opens your mind and humbles you. Seeing the world from different perspectives, breathtaking landscapes, bustling cities, tasting new flavours, meeting people from other cultures and hearing stories, you see that there’s so much to learn and enjoy and how humanity is the same wherever you go. I’m incredibly privileged to have travelled as much as I have and I have no intention to stop. Where are we off to next?”

Anthony Leyens, chairman of APL Media, said: "We’re delighted to honour Anita Rani with the Special Contribution Award at the Travel Media Awards 2026. Through her broadcasting, writing and humanitarian work, Anita has brought people, places and cultures to life with warmth, intelligence and curiosity. We very much look forward to celebrating her achievements at The Savoy in October."

The Special Contribution Award will be presented on the night at The Savoy, alongside the winners of this year's Travel Media Awards categories, chosen from hundreds of submissions across national and international travel journalism.

Tickets for the Travel Media Awards 2026 go on sale today, with early bird pricing of £125 available until 22 September, rising to £150 from 23 September. The shortlist will be announced on 9 September.

The Travel Media Awards 2026 in association with Aspire Pre-flight Hospitality

Consumer Media Sponsor: easyJet holidays

Sponsored by Battersea Power Station, easyJet holidays, Holafly, Intrepid Travel, Marella Cruises, Mail Metro Media, Nova Scotia, Princess Cruises, Sky Media, Switzerland Tourism, The Independent, The Telegraph, TUI, Visit Cyprus and Visit Jersey.

For more information and to enter, visit travelmediaawards.com



Key dates:
2 September — Tickets on sale

9 September — Finalists announced

26 October — Awards ceremony takes place at The Savoy, London



Notes for editors

Travel Media Awards was created in 2015 and operated under a joint venture agreement between Travega and APL Media Limited. As of 2026, the Travel Media Awards is fully owned and operated by APL Media Limited.

Open to all travel writers, broadcasters and photographers, the awards act as a true barometer of the travel media sector.

More than 300 people were present to see the best of the UK travel media honoured at the 11th annual awards, including representatives of some of the UK’s leading travel media and industry organisations.

The winner of each category is decided by a panel of influential travel industry and media professionals. At least 25% of the judges are new each year, and no judge reviews the same category annually, ensuring that only the very best in class take home a coveted trophy. In 2026, more than 70 judges from the industry’s most established consumer and trade titles, ventures and brands participated.



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APL Media Limited is an award-winning content marketing agency and publisher specialising in creating multi-channel content in the travel and lifestyle sectors. APL Media produces the award-winning National Geographic Traveller (UK) plus Postcards, ASTA Worldwide Destination Guide and a series of lifestyle newspaper supplements, directories and websites including The Guardian and The Telegraph. aplmedia.co.uk



Contacts

For more information:

info@travelmediaawards.com

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Juliette McCrimmon

Head of Events

juliette.mccrimmon@aplmedia.co.uk