The Judges
We believe that we all have a part to play and by collaborating with like-minded people and organisations around the world, we leverage a range of skills and networks so that together, we are able to create an EVEN BIGGER positive impact.
The Judges
The Inspire Global Judging Panel for the Media Awards are a diverse group of authors, travel editors, tour operators, destination managers, and positive impact and sustainability experts, who support Inspire Global’s mission and guiding principles.
Alessandra Alonso
WOMEN IN TRAVEL<br>FounderAlessandra Alonso - Women in Travel
Alessandra is the pluri-nominated, award-winning founder and MD of Women in Travel cic and a professional with 20 years of experience in travel and tourism.
Alessandra started her career as a trainee in Tourism at the European Commission and later gained senior roles in companies including The World Travel & Tourism Council and KPMG. She subsequently pursued her passion for supporting women and diversity more generally by setting up consultancy Shine and co-founding the Shine Awards for Women’s Achievement in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality in 2004.
Recognised as a trailblazer in the sector and an expert in gender empowerment and mentoring, Alessandra is also a keynote speaker and regular contributor to publications.
Alessandra has won multiple awards and accolades including TOP 100 women in social enterprise Europe, Forward Ladies and Journey Woman Awards She has also been named one of 9 women transforming travel by the Matador Network and one of 50 ‘most important women in travel’ by Wanderlust Travel.
Graham Boynton
BOYNTON TRAVELS<br>FounderGraham Boynton - Boynton Travels
Graham Boynton is an award-winning international journalist and author who has a frequent contributor to magazines such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and has written for major newspapers including UK’s The Times and the Daily Telegraph and The New York Times and Financial Times. He has written several acclaimed books including Last Days in Cloud Cuckooland, which was one of the Washington Post’s Books of the Year, and Wild: The Life of Peter Beard, which has been put up for a Pulitzer Prize. The biography could, according to the best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith, “have been scripted jointly by Blixen and Hemingway. A brilliantly enjoyable read – a triumph.” Boynton was a friend of Peter Beard for more than 30 years and arguably knew him better than anyone.
Kav Dadfar
JRNY MAGAZINE<br>Co-FounderDebbie Flynn - Finn Partners
Kav is the co-founder of the award-winning JRNY Travel Magazine. As a writer and photographer, over the years his images have appeared in publications around the world including JRNY, Condé Nast, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Daily Mail, The Express, The Guardian and many more.
Juliet Kinsman
JULIET KINSMAN<br>Sustainable Luxury ExpertJuliet Kinsman
Well, that flew by — it’s been more than two and a half decades that I’ve been talking about the world’s most special places in which to spend time as a journalist and a speaker. In 2020, I was the first-ever appointment as Sustainability Editor by Condé Nast Traveller and my book 'The Green Edit: Travel, Easy Tips for the Eco-Friendly Traveller’ (published by Ebury) came out — it’s been well received as the ideal companion for conscious consumers, forward-thinking hoteliers, and eco-warriors hoping to make our travels a stronger force for good. Through my consultancy, BOUTECO (a portmanteau of boutique and eco), I work with award-winning brands to help them stand for something and stand out for it, amplifying messages that matter and sharpening their spirit of sustainability. Founding editor of Mr & Mrs Smith and an author of Louis Vuitton City Guides, luxury travel, for me, has evolved in meaning — and today I love celebrating forward-thinking hotels, travel visionaries and luxury brands that are having a positive impact.
Mike Kelly
CORAL TREE TRAVEL<br>Co-FounderMike Kelly - Coral Tree Travel
I first visited Africa in 2005, travelling independently around Uganda. I was hooked.
Several years later, I moved to Mozambique to run a PADI dive resort at a world-class marine life destination on the Manta coast.
I then moved to Zanzibar to manage the exclusive Mnemba Island, during which time I met Tess and explored East Africa extensively. Five happy years later, Tess and I returned to the UK to begin our journey as family safari specialists.
I’ve been helping families plan incredible journeys to Africa and Indian Ocean destinations ever since.
I love nothing more than experiencing all that Africa’s wild spaces have to offer. Passing on this enthusiasm to our own daughter, as well as other families, is truly rewarding.
Jim Millward
SPRUCE MARKETING<br>FounderJim Millward - Spruce Marketing
Jim is the founder of Spruce, a marketing consultancy for SME travel businesses, with clients across the tour operator, DMC and accommodation sectors. Jim's experience includes heading up the marketing team at Audley Travel for 15 years. He also has a strong interest in sustainability and wrote and implemented Audley's sustainability policies.
Chris Pickard
CRITICAL DIVIDE<br>Founder & DirectorChris Pickard - Critical Divide
Chris Pickard is an experienced tourism and media professional with an international track record with a focus on developing mainstream and niche-market tourism “product”. Most notably as director of tourism for the island of St Helena and a director of Enterprise St Helena, the island’s development board, and as head of the Brazilian Tourist Office in London and director of communications for the World Travel & Tourism Council.
In the UK he has looked after the PR for TAM Airlines, the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Ecuador and Quito Tourist Boards, among others.
He is a past chair of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA), and the association’s charitable arm, the LATA Foundation. He is an ex-board member of British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil and the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (Brazil), and is currently the chair of the Anglo-Brazilian Society and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists.
Well-connected in publishing, media, marketing, communications and public affairs, Chris was editor of Moving Pictures, Pulse DVD & Digital, TravelPlus, Rio Life, The Daily Tiger and the travel, arts, and entertainment editor of The Latin America Daily Post. As a journalist he has contributed to The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The Sun, Daily Mirror, The Guardian, Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Folha de São Paulo, and many more. He has made contributions to camera for the BBC, ITV, Five, Channel 4, CNN, Sky TV and TV Globo. He currently edits and publishes the popular “The Guide” web series including to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Cannes, The World Cup, and the Oscars. He is completing documentaries about the Cannes Film Festival and the life of the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, with whom he helped write his autobiography and a novel.
Byron Shirto
INSPIRE GLOBAL<br>Founder & CEOByron Shirto - Inspire Global
Byron grew up in Zimbabwe and had the privilege of working in Victoria Falls through the booming 90s. He moved to the UK in 2000, and worked for Abercrombie & Kent, before setting up a marketing and communications agency, offering bespoke representation and PR, events and creative design for the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Byron has served as committee member, and as Chairman of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA). He also served as a Trustee for the association's charitable arm, the LATA Foundation. Byron has been a judge for media awards, marketing awards and is
often requested as a speaker at travel industry events. In 2020, in the midst of the global the pandemic, Byron sensed a growing appetite for positive impact travel, and a travel community willing to share best practice. He created Inspire Global, and leads the organisation as CEO pursuing its mission of building a community focused on education, advocacy and promotion of positive impact tourism. In 2023, Byron launched the Cheltenham Travel Festival, a consumer event to promote sustainable travel.
Justin Wateridge
STEPPES TRAVEL<br>Managing DirectorMike Kelly - Coral Tree Travel
ustin Wateridge is Managing Director of specialist tour operator Steppes Travel. He has been with Steppes Travel since 2012 and for the five years preceding that was Managing Director of Abercrombie & Kent UK.
His travel highlights have been many but from a wildlife perspective would include spotting a snow leopard in Ladakh, tracking gorillas with the Ba’aka pygmies in Central Africa and seeing a Sei whale in the Galapagos. In terms of landscape it would be the tepuis of Venezuela, the remote island of Socotra off Yemen and the pristine beauty of the North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan. In terms of cities, Cartagena, Kashgar and Beirut. In terms of experiences, spending time with the nomadic Wodaabe in the Sahara and cycling up the Mekong River.
Justin firmly believes that travel breaks down barriers and prejudice. “Travel gives us so much – experience, empathy, perspective, understanding and such vivid memories. Our world is wonderfully diverse and we should not shrink from it but experience it, relish it and use those experiences to redefine our own lives.”