Congratulations to all the travel journalists and photographers who captured prizes this week in the North American Travel Journalists Association’s 33rd annual awards. Today’s a great day, as I’m thrilled to announce that I took home more individual awards than anyone else in the industry — including the top photo prize, Photographer of the Year. Thank you, NATJA, for these incredible honors. And thank you, Internova Travel Group, for trusting me to create and lead OLTRE. I can’t wait to celebrate w/ the team at HQ soon.
2025 NATJA Awards:
- Special Recognition – Photographer of the Year
- Gold Award – Illustrated Story: America’s Next Great Restaurant, OLTRE
- Gold Award – Portrait Photo: Bartender at Tre Dita, OLTRE
- Silver Award – Travel Blog, Brad A. Johnson, Food & Travel
- Bronze Award – Architecture/Cityscape, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, OLTRE
- Bronze Award – Photo Essay, Closer Look: The Brando, OLTRE and bradajohnson.com
- Honorable Mention – Illustrated Story, Season to Taste, OLTRE
- Honorable Mention – Culinary Travel Writing, A Never-Ending Feast, OLTRE
Room service at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire, England (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Great Milton, England (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Tre Dita at The St. Regis Chicago (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Meatballs at Tre Dita, Chicago (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
The bar at Tre Dita at The St. Regis Chicago (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Wagyu ribeye at Tre Dita at The St. Regis Chicago (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Terrace at the St. Regis Chicago (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Cocina de Autor at Grand Velas Los Cabos (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Grand Velas Boutique, Los Cabos (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Grand Velas Boutique Hotel, Los Cabos (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Chocolate clams at Roca Bar, Grand Velas Boutique Hotel, Los Cabos (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Bellman at The Brando, and a tiki drink from the resort’s outdoor bar (Photos by Brad A. Johnson) 
Cocktails at Te Manu Bar/Les Mutinés at The Brando in French Polynesia (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Lobster on the coals at Les Mutinés at The Brando in French Polynesia (Photo by Brad A. Johnson) 
Tetiaroa, French Polynesia (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Huge congrats to the full roster of journalists, photographers, magazines, websites and more who collected prizes in this year’s contest, including a few contributors with whom I had the pleasure of working this year at OLTRE and who never cease to inspire me.
For more travel inspiration, photos and random commentary, I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Threads. (I’m no longer active on Twitter/X because I don’t support Nazis.)
