The PURE Awards are an iconic part of the PURE calendar, where we celebrate those in our community who truly Change Worlds.
It is an opportunity to showcase the extraordinary work and projects that push what is possible in experiential travel, with four awards (Conservation, Creativity, Community and Change Maker) waiting to be claimed.
As well as being recognised at the annual PURE Awards Ceremony, all of the PURE Awards finalists are also invited to be the 12 leaders representing the community at Innovation Lab; our exclusive, invite-only leadership summit, hosted in Morocco pre-PURE.
Applications for our 2026 Awards are now open! The deadline to submit an application is 30 April – you can choose your category below. Good luck!
Each year we select some of the world’s most renowned, experientially minded travel journalists for our Awards judging panel. They determine which entries become our finalists and our Innovation Lab leaders, during a busy judging event.
Check out our 2026 judges below…
Catherine brings over 25 years of experience across journalism, hospitality and cultural storytelling. Her career spans early roles with Alan Davidson on The Oxford Companion to Food, consulting for leading chefs and London restaurants, and serving as Chief Press Officer for Claridge’s and The Berkeley before moving into journalism in Rome. Back in the UK, she spent 17 years as Travel Editor at Harper’s Bazaar, launching award-winning guides and helping shape early digital travel platforms. Today, she contributes to publications including FT, HTSI, The Guardian and Condé Nast Traveller, while also hosting podcasts and curating cultural travel experiences.
Francisca is one of the UK’s most experienced travel writers and editors, with senior roles including Travel Editor at Tatler and Digital Travel Editor at The Telegraph. Across print and digital, she has edited magazines, launched platforms and shaped content strategies for some of the industry’s leading brands. Today, she is Travel Editor-at-Large for Country & Town House and a regular contributor to titles including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and National Geographic Traveller, where she is known for her work on sustainable travel. Alongside her editorial career, she is Editor-in-Chief of Navigator, a digital-first agency focused on impactful storytelling.
Olivia Squire leads two sections of Condé Nast’s flagship industry publication, Word of Mouth and Perspectives; shepherds the annual Hot and Gold Lists; and commissions, edits and writes features herself. Previously she was instrumental in SUITCASE Magazine’s win for Best Print Product at the British Media Awards and its shortlisting as Best Consumer Magazine at the TravMedia Awards and Travel Media Awards, where she was also shortlisted for Young Travel Writer of the Year in 2017. A pandemic pivot took her to the World Health Organization, organising global summits in London and New York which included rescuing a baby zebra while on horseback in Botswana, and climbing a mountain dressed as a Japanese ghost.
A three-times winner of travel journalist of the year, freelancer James Stewart is a regular contributor to The Sunday Times, The Times and Financial Times plus magazines such as Condé Nast Traveller, Robb Report and National Geographic Traveller. Over the course of 25 years in travel journalism, he has maintained a focus on conservation and maritime journeys, telling resonant narratives of community, sustainability and wellbeing. He also works in radio and as a keynote speaker for the likes of Invesco and ABTA.
Stanley's career as a travel writer spans four decades, three celebrated books and thousands of miles of travel articles for publications including Travel & Leisure, the FT, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph and National Geographic. As a guiding hand at Condé Nast Traveller, his work has taken him from the sources of the Nile to the depths of the Amazon to Mongolia where he rode 1,000 miles on horseback for his award-winning book In the Empire of Genghis Khan. He has won over 20 awards for his travel journalism including, most recently, Gold Awards from both the Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association.
We’ve established a trusted PURE Committee to select the winner of the 2026 Change Maker award. We’ll be leaning on the expertise and knowledge of our coveted ‘Winner’s Circle’; the four Mavericks that were victorious at the 2025 PURE Awards! Their input will also be combined with representatives of the PURE team itself, helping decide this year’s ultimate Change Maker.
