World Guide Awards

The incredible, unsung, kind heroes of travel – that’s who the Wanderlust World Guide Awards celebrates. Lyn Hughes introduces 2018’s deserving winners…

The 2018 Wanderlust World Guide Awards are here – meet the winners

Judging the Wanderlust World Guide Awards is a bittersweet challenge. It’s a joy because the judges and I are always blown away by the wonderful testimonials sent in by you and the guides’ colleagues. But it’s also very difficult because choosing winners from that star-studded shortlist is almost impossible. I spend hours reading your impassioned, inspirational anecdotes – often with a tear in my eye.

Even now, in the 13th year of the awards, the job never gets easier, but it is always a privilege to honour the people who go out of their way to make your adventures unforgettable. In addition to the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, we have introduced three ‘Special Awards’ to mark the 25th anniversary of Wanderlust: a commendation for the top safari guide, conservation guide and UK guide. I established the World Guide Awards after the death of

Wanderlust co-founder (and my late husband) Paul Morrison in 2004. He championed the importance of great guides, so I wanted to create something fitting in his memory – and I am sure that he would have been as enthusiastic about this year’s finalists as we are.

We announced the results at London’s Royal Geographical Society on 4 October, joined by the guides themselves as well as hundreds of their supporters. It was, as always, a joyous and emotional evening – but if you couldn’t make it on the night, you can meet all of the winners right here on these pages. We think they’re amazing, and we’re sure you will too.

How the winners were chosen…

We asked you to nominate your favourite guides, and you sent over 4,000 recommendations – a record-breaking year. We narrowed down these nominations to a shortlist of ten before inviting further testimonials from their clients and colleagues.

The judging panel then decided who’d win Gold, a £5,000 bursary; Silver, £2,500; and Bronze, £1,000. The bursaries were kindly donated by Craghoppers (craghoppers.com).