The finalists of our Experientialist® Awards for 2024/2025 have been announced, applauding and recognising the luxury brands and people in luxury and experiential travel who have delivered truly OutThere initiatives, authentic and exceptional experiences, ingenious and innovative ideas, original and dynamic campaigns, unparalleled leadership and community-first approaches rooted in our core values of diversity, discovery and discernment
A huge congratulations to all the entrants who made it to the shortlist in each category. There were hundreds of fabulous and worthy entries this year, which made it very hard to discern who would be honoured in our finals. The quality of entries was extremely high this year, alas only nine brands could be shortlisted in each category. Our panel of esteemed judges worked extremely hard to take the following OutThere brands through to the finals…
The Experientialist® Awards 2024/25 is proudly supported by…
Most OutThere travel brand
The nine most revolutionary, mindful and forward-looking travel brands that have demonstrated unrivalled and holistic innovation, inclusivity, creativity and excellence across all aspects of their operations, linked specifically to OutThere’s core values of diversity, discovery and discernment.
Andronis
Banyan Group
Hong Kong
Kimpton
Malta
Resplendent Ceylon
Scott Dunn
The Islands of Tahiti
Windjammer Landing
Most OutThere champion
These people, through stewardship, creativity, innovation and tenacity are pushing the boundaries and redefining the status quo of luxury travel. They drive market-defining experiences, are role models for their team members and deliver excellence in personalisation, diversity and inclusion, and guest experience.
Bettina Walsh – Hong Kong Tourism Board
Brad Dean – Discover Puerto Rico
Christina Guggenberger – Stockholm LGBT
Eugenio Pirri – Dorchester Collection
Kristina Snaith-Lense – The Upper House
Kurt Macher – Shangri-La London and Paris
Mike Freed – Post Ranch Inn
Nicola Shepherd – The Explorations Company
Vorapipat Dabbaransi – Avani+ Riverside Bangkok
Most OutThere initiative in inclusive travel
These nine travel brands are making a real difference when it comes to fostering inclusivity and intersectionality in luxury and experiential travel and are truly dedicated to personalisation, inclusivity and diversity in their work.
Amilla
Inclusive Morocco
International African American Museum (Explore Charleston)
La Miniera Pool Villas Pattaya
Scott Dunn
Stockholm LGBT
Tahiti Tourisme
Visit California
Visit Malta
Most OutThere initiative in community, conservation and sustainability
Social responsibility continues to be a core pillar for many of today’s luxury travel brands, encouraging travellers to journey with purpose and not just be conscious about where they travel, but also how they travel, why and with whom. It is heartwarming to see so many brands create initiatives that foster a deep and empathetic understanding of humanity, nature and sustainable custodianship, and garner support for them from their guests, travellers and the public at large. These projects are the best of the best social responsibility projects in community, conservation and sustainability, related to the mindblowing travel experiences that are true to OutThere’s core values.
*The winner(s) of this category will receive the £15,000 / $19,000 collected from entry fees to help fund their project.
We wish to honour and recognise ALL the amazing projects/submissions this year, so we have not created a shortlist in this category. We will reveal which project(s) our judges rated most deserving (and who will receive the prize fund for their project) in February.
Abercrombie & Kent – A&K Philanthropy
andBeyond –
andBeyond Vira Vira
Blue Apple Beach – Green Apple Foundation
The Datai Langkawi – The Datai Pledge
Elewana – The Loisaba Conservancy
Intrepid – The Black Mambas
Jade Mountain – Sustainable Actions
Kamba Africa Rainforest Experiences – Odzala-Kokoua National Park
Lemala Camps & Lodges – The Untold Story
Mantis – The Banana Leaf Slipper Project
Mashpi Lodge – The Forests of the Chocó
NIHI – Sumba Hospitality Foundation
Palladium Hotel Group – Palladium Cares
The Pavilion Himalayas – Behind the Green
Singita – Singita Lowveld Trust
Six Senses Laamu – SHELL
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises – The TreadRight Foundation / Make Travel Matter
Wilderness – Children in the Wilderness
The following six categories for the Experientialist Awards shortlist celebrate the luxury travel brands, that like us, are rooted in diversity, discovery and discernment and linked to the six OutThere traveller profiles.
The Adventurer award
The nine 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.
andBeyond
Bhutan
cazenove & loyd
Eleven Experience
Kamba Africa Rainforest Experiences
PONANT
The Slow Cyclist
Wildluing
Xigera Safari Lodge
The Culturalist award
These 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.
100 Princes Street
Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto
Botanic Sanctuary
Costa Navarino
Hotel De L’Europe Amsterdam
ME Barcelona
Raffles Jaipur
Santa Monica
Shinta Mani Mustang
The Escapist award
These escapist journeys celebrate ‘getting away from it all’, wellbeing and peace of mind, all worthy finalists from a mammoth list of entries each vying to make the Experientialist Awards shortlist. The list was so mammoth this year, that the judges have decided to split this category into two.
The first Escapist Award celebrates the brands that help OutThere travellers truly get away from it all.
Buahan Banyan Tree Escape
Cali Mykonos
Kisawa Sanctuary
Mashpi Lodge
Nirjhara
Waldorf Astoria Seychelles
Wildluing
Xigera Safari Lodge
Zannier Bãi San Hô
The second Escapist award recognises the brands that lead the way in wellness and wellbeing.
AIRE Ancient Baths
Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne
Cape of Senses
Chiva Som
Dharana at Shillim
Evian Resort
Kagi Maldives
Naturhotel Forsthofgut
Six Senses
The Hedonist award
We loved judging this “just because” category, and have shortlisted nine of the most simply indulgent, mindblowing properties, brands and experiences rooted in fun and celebration.
Ashford Castle
Cali Mykonos
Gleneagles
Iniala Beach House / Iniala Harbour House
Mandarin Oriental
Melia Ibiza
Suvretta House
The Witchery
Thailand
The Insider award
These nine 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.
Broadwick Soho
Capella Bangkok
Cartology Travel
Jacada Travel
PoB Hotels
Scott Dunn
Shangri-La
The Siam
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 nine.
Capella Bangkok
Cliveden House
The House Collective
Le Grand Jardin, Ultima Collection
Palazzo Cordusio, a Gran Meliá Hotel
Nobu Hotels
Regent Hotels & Resorts
Soneva
Xara Collection
Meet the judges
Our judging panel is made up of a diverse cross-section of some of the best editors, travel writers and content creators in experiential travel. A special thank you to all our Experientialist® judges for taking the time to deliberate over the entries.
Aisha and Lexie Shaibu-Lenoir
Aisha & Lexie are a married queer content-creator couple otherwise known as @thequeernomads. They are brand ambassadors for several travel brands including Belmond, Celebrity Cruises and Contiki. Their mission is to increase the visibility of queer women of colour in the travel industry and media, through their lived experiences, travelling across the world to showcase, feature and uplift marginalised voices through brands and companies that align with our values. As prominent queer members in the LGBTQ+ community, they make impact through the work we do with UK Black Pride and other community projects.
Amy Broomfield
Amy Broomfield is an editor for Harrods Magazines specialising in food, travel and interior design. She has also written for OutThere, The Telegraph and Conde Nast Traveller Middle East.
Annie Fitzsimmons
Annie has covered all things travel for the last two decades across many platforms and in a constantly evolving media landscape. Her book, “National Geographic’s 100 Hotels of a Lifetime,” was published in December 2024 and distributed worldwide in multiple languages. She has worked with top media and travel brands, including at Embark Beyond – a $300 million travel agency with offices in New York and São Paulo – as Editor in Chief, AFAR Media, and Virtuoso. She held various roles over the course of almost a decade at National Geographic Travel, including luxury editor, editor at large, and the first and only Urban Insider, reporting on cities, culture, and people around the world.
Carmen Roberts
Carmen is an ward winning TV presenter on the BBC’s Travel Show with over 20 years international experience, presenting and reporting from more than 80 countries. She reported from the devastated resort town of Phuket after the Asian Tsunami in 2004, produced a programme aboard the world’s longest flight, filmed on board the world’s largest cruise ship, went behind the scenes of the world’s most efficient high-speed train service in Japan and reported from one of the world’s most secretive countries – North Korea.
Francisca Kellett
Francisca is the Travel Editor-at-Large for Country & Town House magazine, and was previously the Travel Editor at Tatler magazine. She writes for some of the world’s leading publications and is regarded as an industry expert on luxury and sustainable travel. She is also the Editor-in-Chief at Navigator International, a creative digital marketing agency for luxury travel brands.
Hollie-Rae Brader
Hollie-Rae is editor of luxury travel trade magazine Aspire. Since taking the helm at Aspire in 2016 she has significantly 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.
Jeninne Lee-St. John
Jeninne is Travel+Leisure South East Asia’s editor-in-chief, loves living in Bangkok, though she wishes it were also on a beach. She’s especially interested in food with a good backstory, new ways to define luxury, regenerative travel, wellness from ancient to cutting-edge, and weird wine. Jeninne worked at Time in New York and London, has a masters from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and a bachelors from Williams College. Born in Washington, D.C., she’s lived in Southeast Asia since 2009, and is known among friends as the queen of bubbles.
Juliet Kinsman
Sustainability expert Juliet is an editor, journalist, speaker and consultant who shares stories to inspire impact. As founding editor of Mr & Mrs Smith, and a broadcaster, and author of many guidebooks, such as The Green Edit: Travel — Easy Tips for the Eco-Friendly Traveller (Ebury) and The Bucket List: Eco Experiences (Rizzoli), Juliet has shifted the narrative of boutique travel and sustainable luxury. Her purpose-led non-profit consultancy, Bouteco, works to amplify the impact of boutique eco-hotels and sustainable luxury brands, ensuring their efforts are celebrated authentically and free of greenwashing.
Mark Thompson
As a member of Authors Guild, the Society of American Travel Writers, and New York Travel Writers, as well as PEN America, Mark Thompson is an author and travel writer whose work has been published in numerous periodicals. As a novelist, he has been awarded fellowships and residencies at artists’ communities including MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. He earned a Ph.D. in American Studies with a dissertation that focuses on the myth of the frontier and the literature of 20th-century California. He lives in Manhattan and Cape Cod.
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.
Meera Datani
Meera is a freelance travel and culture journalist, and executive editor at Adventure.com. Focusing on community-led tourism, food/cultural heritage, soft adventure, and wildlife/conservation, her bylines include National Geographic Traveller, Wanderlust, BBC Travel, Condé Nast Traveller, Evening Standard, and the i paper. In 2023, she founded a new platform – TravelWritingWebinars – to offer informal training to travel journalists, and is a former Chair/Board Director of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
Patrick Hamilton Courtney
Patrick is currently Content Editor, Hotels & Destinations at The Telegraph, and is a seasoned travel and arts writer who was previously travel editor at Homes & Gardens and Livingetc. His background as a writer of Thai heritage informs his editorial voice, and he specialises in stories about cultural and design-led experiences. He has recently contributed to titles including World of Interiors and Service95, amongst others.
Rupert Mellor
Rupert is OutThere’s Features Editor; and an award-winning editor, journalist, publishing consultant and communications expert with rich experience across print, online and emerging digital media. His extensive bylines includes all UK broadsheet newspapers, UK and international lifestyle and specialist periodicals.
Sonia Taourghi
Sonia is a freelance Luxury and Lifestyle Editor with a passion for people and photography. After a career in French television, radio, and digital media, Sonia found her way to London’s dynamic technology sector. Today, she combines these experiences with her love for luxury hospitality, chronicling the stories of exceptional places and the visionaries behind them, notably for Journal des Palaces.
Steffen Michels
Steffen is OutThere’s Digital Experientialist (Editor) and heads up all things online and social at the magazine.. He is passionate about authentic travel experiences, arts and culture, animal rights advocacy and environmentalism.
Susan d’Arcy
‘d’Arcy’ – as she’s known in the industry – is the luxury travel and wellness editor of The Times and Sunday Times and oversees the newspapers’ annual hotel and spa guides. She appears regularly on television and also works as a consultant on luxury travel and wellness projects.
Ute Junker
Ute is an award-winning travel writer, editor and podcaster. She has spent 20 years charting the evolution of luxury travel for a range of leading publications including the Centurion and Departures magazines, The Australian Financial Review, The South China Morning Post, T Australia: the New York Times Style Magazine and Delicious.
Uwern Jong
Uwern is co-Founder and Experientialist-in-Chief at OutThere, celebrating over a decade of publishing as an award-winning luxury and experiential travel journal rooted in diversity, discovery and discernment.
