The Travolution Awards: 6 tips to write an award-winning entry

News just in - the Travolution Awards 2024 will launch in a week's time. Ahead of this year's awards launch, we wanted to give you a helping hand by arming you with some useful tips to write an award-winning submission. The devil is in the detail and this detail takes preparation, so the preparation starts now.

The Travolution judges, made up of former winners and industry experts, are looking for entries that clearly hit the brief outlined in the criteria, with evidence backing up claims. We receive hundreds of entries for our awards and we want to make sure you are well prepared to have the best possible chance.

Here are some tips for writing your nomination to win a coveted Travolution Award:

1. Read the criteria

The judges base their decisions on the instructions issued in the criteria of each award. Make a note of the criteria before you start and make sure you demonstrate how you, one of your team or your business has achieved outstanding success in the specific areas that are identified. If you submit an entry for the wrong award category, your submission unfortunately won’t be able to be considered for the shortlist so read the award’s criteria carefully.

2. Answer any questions posed

The questions in the entry forms are there to prompt positive responses and ensure the entrants cover all the areas the judges are looking for. Read the questions first, make a few notes on what you plan to cover for each, and then go back and provide the detail that will sell your entry. We have redesigned the questions this year as an additional aid to equip you with talking points to include for a good submission. If you are copying and pasting the same answer for all three questions, have you really answered the question? Don’t forget, if the instructions ask you to ‘please provide evidence to support your claims', do all you can to beef up your entry with statistics or a description of how a particular target or project was achieved.

3. Detail your objectives and the outcomes achieved

A winning entry will detail the objectives set out at the start of the entry and at the end show what has been achieved. The judges will be looking for specific projects or targets with measurable outcomes. Make sure they are realistic and backed up with the data. As we sit at an intersection of travel and technology, we all know how much data underpins everything we do. It’s the same for your submission – judges need to see evidence of this included for a successful entry.

4. Don’t add fluff

Don’t see that each question has a 500-word allowance to answer and think you need to fill it. This is an up-to figure. If you can write everything you want to say in less, then do so. Don’t add fluff or waffle unnecessarily in a hope to win over judges. A longer entry does not improve your chances of winning. In fact, it's quite the reverse, as judges are likely to stop concentrating. Be precise and focused. Put all the information in a logical order so the entry flows and create an outline with different sections and headings before you start writing.

5. You can use Gen-AI if you’re struggling

We’re a tech-focused publication, we welcome the use of technology to help efficiency. Don’t be afraid to use it as a tool as we’re not judging an entry on how well it’s written but by its relevant inclusions. Our event submission platform, Evessio, even has ChatGPT functionality built into it for your convenience. Utilise it.

4. Stand out from the crowd

If there’s lots of providers that do similar work to yourselves, what’s your USP? What makes you the winner over the rest. How has your business gone above and beyond for its customers when addressing their pain points or supported colleagues? 

5. Talk to your peers

Ask people to read your submission. Do they think it meets the brief and answers the questions? Get advice from other people you know who have won an award. Ask them how they presented their information. 

6. Review

Take a break and come back to it. You may spot a new angle to your submission for the question you previously missed. 

Once you’ve done all of the above, you’re probably ready to submit.

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