AWARD FOR TOURISM JOURNALISM

The Ministry of Tourism is pleased to announce that the winner of the first Tourism Journalism Award is Mr. Julian C. Zarb. Mr Zarb has written a varied series of articles in Il-Mument that discuss tourism from a range of interesting perspectives. He has tackled central issues creatively and focused on the role the individual citizen plays in making Malta a better place. He has interviewed key players in the tourism industry, introduced competitions on aspects of tourism for the readership and vox pop findings.

Mr. Zarb is a freelance contributor who also hosts a radio programme on tourism. While offering our congratulations to Mr. Zarb the Ministry would also like to mention that it is disappointing that no full-time journalist has as yet turned to Tourism Writing as a major area of specialized writing.

In recognition for his contribution the Ministry of Tourism has invited Mr. Julian C. Zarb to attend the World Travel Market in London. There he will be able to witness new and interesting developments in the field. Furthermore, he will be invited to cover the entire event for the Maltese media.

The Ministry wishes to mention some other writers for their interesting contributions to Tourism Writing over the last year. These are: Alan Vella, Fiona Galea Debono, Rosanne Zammit, Terence Mirabelli, Franco Aloisio, Annette Vella and Vince Farrugia.

The adjudicating panel comments that "the award for Tourism Journalism was established by the Ministry of Tourism with the intention of promoting the importance of tourism in the Maltese consciousness. Each and every Maltese and Gozitan citizen can make a difference: either positively or negatively. That difference has an impact on the economy as a whole.

Tourism journalism is a specialised category. It requires informed writers who focus on the broad field of tourism as a specialised area of interest. This award has been established in order to encourage individual journalists, freelance writers, newspapers and local publishing houses to promote tourism writing as an area of specialization.

The Ministry wished to encourage creative, investigative, entertaining, and informed writing on the subject, as well as writing that treats issues from unusual and challenging angles. "We hoped to see less articles based on faithfully reproduced press releases and official handouts and more original and researched writing."