Judges Comments - British Youth Travel Awards

Our panel of judges cover a wide range of expertise from marketing, to responsible tourism, social media and education.

The BYTA judges meet in person to score and debate each submission. Here is what our panel had to say about this year’s submissions:

Mike Clewley

Senior Cultural Tourism Officer, Greater London Authority

"Having judged these awards for a number of years not only were there more than ever before, but the quality and standard of this year's submissions was excellent. The demonstration of new and innovative ways in which businesses are engaging their audience and developing their brands is very impressive."

Jeannette Gilbert

Head of Marketing, World Travel Market

"I was honoured to be a judge for the British Youth Travel Awards 2017. I thought the standard of entries were extremely high across all the categories. Youth travel is such an important sector for the industry as a whole. I found the work from the best volunteering category particularly impressive and it’s excellent to see companies within the industry making such a huge difference to people and communities around the world."

Clare Gossage

Marketing/Operations Director & Co-Founder, The PIE News

"I was delighted to be on the judging panel for the BYTA Awards 2017. The quality of the award entries was very high and shortlisting the finalists was a difficult task. There is a lot of innovative work taking place across the youth travel market in the UK and it’s great to be able to recognise those who are making a real impact through the awards."

Trudi Pearce

Director of Responsible Tourism, Brighter PR

"Whilst judging the British Youth Travel Awards I was reminded just how important the youth travel market is to the British economy and how we are evolving as a nation to satisfy the ever changing needs of the younger generation. I was particularly impressed with the Volunteering category the high standard and detail of every entry was extraordinary this year and as a result made the judging very challenging. That said, I’m delighted to have been privy to all the meaningful and wonderful work benefitting local communities around the world and as result the richer, deeper experience this provides the volunteer."

Graham McKenzie

Managing Director, TravelMole.com

Clare Mullin

Marketing Director, VisitBritain

"It was great to be part of the judging panel for the 10th anniversary British Youth Travel Awards. Youth travel is such a vibrant and important sector for destinations to capture. I was particularly impressed with the marketing category and looking at the innovative ways that people are engaging with their audience on budgets large and small!"

Paul Richer

Senior Partner, Genesys Digital Transformation

“I was really impressed with the standard of entries across all categories this year. It is great to see travel businesses with such a high commitment to customer service and satisfaction and also to see the impressive level of innovation, particularly in the used of social media and mobile apps.”

Celia Partridge

Assistant Director, Partnerships and Mobility, Universities UK International

Celia has worked at the Royal College of Music and at the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), where she led on the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education. Her private sector experience includes managing Barclays UK flagship community investment programme. As a consultant, her work has included strategic reviews, programme development and sustainability strategy for a range of charities and private enterprises, most recently the Business and Sustainable Development Commission. She joined UUKi in August 2017.