'A taste of travel' reveals regions most talented travel photographer

Marking the launch of Lonely Planet Traveller magazine in the Middle East, the competition and exhibition, ‘A Taste of Travel’, asked aspiring travel photographers to post their top travel snapshots onto the Radisson Royal or Lonely Planet Traveller Facebook sites. Over 400 entries were received during the two months’ submission period, themed around four categories; ‘nature’, ‘architecture’, landscape’ and ‘people’.

Last night, the winners of each category were awarded at the opening of the ‘Taste of Travel’ exhibition at the Radisson Royal Hotel, Dubai.

•Nature - Enjo Mathew

•Architecture - Sanjay Pradhan

•Landscape - Leila Cranswick

•People - Shaikha Al Khayyal

•Wild Card: Social Media – Celso Creer

The grand prize was awarded to Leila Cranswick for her stunning landscape shot (photo above). Leila won a trip for two, to the beautiful capital city of Georgia, Tbilisi, with three nights’ accommodation in the five-star Radisson Blu Iveria, Tbilisi, plus flights courtesy of flydubai, Dubai’s innovative low-cost airline.

There were also three prizes for the runners-ups, including a weekend stay at the Radisson Blu Resort, Fujairah, luxury stays at Radisson Royal Hotel, Dubai, and photography equipment from Canon.

The winners were chosen by a diverse and experienced judging panel, including the editor of Lonely Planet Traveller magazine from the Middle East, and experts from Gulf Photo Plus.

Editor of Lonely Planet Traveller Middle East, Georgina Wilson-Powell commented, “It’s a testament to the wealth of local talent and enthusiasm for beautiful photography, that our first ever photo competition has had around 400 entries, many of them of an impressively high standard. People are inspired by travel photography, and at Lonely Planet Traveller we aim to showcase the best images every month, from both international photographers and our fabulous local ones.”

The ‘A Taste of Travel’ exhibition features a collection of stunning photographs from around the world, borrowed from the Lonely Planet archives, plus the winners of the amateur snapper’s competition.

The exhibition opens to the public from 13th February until the 7th March.

Location: Radisson Royal Hotel, Origami space

Entry: Free

Timings: Accessible 24 hours a day

Enquiries: Tel: 04 308 0000