Barbados Tourism Media Awards
Barbados Tourism Media Awards
I'm still in shock about winning an award at the Barbados Tourism Media Awards 2018!
"Freediving and a Lionfish Hunt in Barbados" won 'Local Drum Beat First" - Best Story by a Barbadian journalist in a Local Publication. I am so humbled and grateful for this recognition of local content creators!
Held under the theme ‘Pride of Barbados’, the awards ceremony acknowledged the positive impact exceptional media coverage has on potential travellers.
The awards evening was quite a glamorous affair, with dinner and entertainment, followed by the awards. It was so nice to meet journalists from all over the world, who won awards for their articles, features and blog posts in international publications. Skip to Malou blog was categorised as a local publication, which I had never really considered before. It's an honour to be able to use my own platform to share my story and the story of Barbados from a local perspective.
The winners were asked to submit an acceptance video ahead of time, and these were played on a big screen as soon as we were called up to accept our awards. Walking on that stage was nerve wrecking, to say the least! It was also quite strange to hear my own voice being played on a speaker in front of hundreds of people. I must admit, I much prefer sharing stories on this blog to putting myself out there in front of a crowd.
The Caribbean Narrative
Tourism is the pulse of our economy in Barbados. As a result, storytelling plays an important role in how the Barbados brand is sold. More importantly, storytelling also shapes our cultural identity.
Blogging allows me to offer a glimpse into island life, and sustainable travel experiences in Barbados.
However, it saddened me to realise that I was the only local blogger there that night. My hope is that sharing this post about the awards will raise awareness of this opportunity and encourage more local content creators to submit their work for the next Awards cycle. As a story teller, I strongly believe that Caribbean content creators have a responsibility to share our stories, and to take more ownership of the Caribbean narrative.