> news release
DestinAsian Wins SOPA Excellence Awards
Asia's top luxury travel magazine picks up four awards including "Excellence in Magazines" award for a local publication
Jakarta, 28 June 2004—DestinAsian, the Asian region's leading luxury travel and lifestyle magazine, has been recognized by its peers, picking up the top "Excellence in Magazines" award in the sixth annual Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards for editorial excellence.
The awards were announced on June 24 in a gala ceremony held at Hong Kong's J.W. Marriott Hotel. On hand to collect DestinAsian's awards was the DestinAsian Media Group's Publisher and founder, Mr Ronald Liem.
DestinAsian's "Excellence in Magazines" prize came in the category small magazines published in English, as did its other awards—two for Excellence in Feature Writing and one for Excellence in Feature Photography.
Commenting on the awards, Mr Liem said he was delighted to see DestinAsian perform so well in the three categories, but especially the top "Excellence in Magazines" category.
"We have worked hard for three and a half years to produce a luxury travel and lifestyle magazine that offers its readers the best in magazine design, artwork, editorial and pictorial talent that the region has to offer," he said.
"To be awarded the "Excellence in Magazines" title is a well-deserved reward for all our staff and contributors who have worked tirelessly to make the magazine the success it is with our dedicated readers and advertisers.
"The competition in these awards has never been more intense and the awards themselves grow in stature every year, so it is a privilege to win," he said. "I would like to congratulate all the other winners and all those who took part."
"I would like to make special mention of our Editor in Chief, Christopher Hill and our Creative Director, Tom Brown, who have worked on the magazine since the beginning," he added. This award will surely inspire them to even greater efforts."
Announcing the Excellence in Magazines award in category B for small magazines published in English, the SOPA judges said: "The travel magazine is a well worn genre, but DestinAsian manages to carry off the familiar in a way that is surprising in its elegance, stylishness and relevance."
DestinAsian's Excellence in Feature Writing award was for the Serendipity's Shores article on Sri Lanka by Douglas Rogers in the August-September 2003 edition. The magazine also received an honourable mention in this category for Forever Paradise, written by Pico Iyer which appeared in the February-March 2003 issue.
The judges said of the winning author: "[Douglas] Rogers has a sharp eye for detail, nuance and the telling anecdote, and he strings them together in a feature that is as informative as it is gracefully written."
The magazine's fourth award, an honourable mention in the Excellence in Feature Photography category also came for Forever Paradise in February-March 2003. The pictures were by Martin Westlake.
DestinAsian's 2004 awards bettered its 2003 SOPA results when it received the top award for Excellence in Feature Writing (for Salaam Mumbai) and honourable mentions for Excellence in Magazines and Excellence in Magazine Design.
The winners in this year's SOPA awards were selected in 41 categories covering both English language and Chinese language media (including several new categories. There were a record 278 entries from publications across the region. The judges were 90 respected journalists, editors and academics from top national and regional media and top universities based in Asia.
"Such a professionally competitive process, inclusive of the global media brands, can only improve the quality of journalism and the value of the publishing industry in Asia. It would be insulting to Asian journalists and editors to say that they cannot measure-up to international standards of excellence and therefore should not have to compete on equal terms with the world's best", the SOPA chairman Cyril Pereira said.
The SOPA Awards were established in 1999 as a tribute to editorial excellence in both traditional and new media and are designed to honour excellence and to encourage editorial vitality throughout the region. This year's awards cover a broad range of categories reflecting Asia's vibrant and successful editorial scene.
Published bimonthly, DestinAsian is distributed through newsstands, subscriptions, in-flight and controlled circulation to countries and airlines throughout Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The aim is to reach those individuals who enjoy travel and appreciate the finer things in life.
In its short life, DestinAsian has won a host of awards, including:
- Society of Publishers in Asia 2003 Awards, top award for 'Excellence in Feature Writing' category for "Salaam Mumbai" (Douglas Rogers, April/June 2002). Also Honourable Mention for 'Excellence in Magazine Design' and 'Excellence in Magazines' categories
- Society of Publishers in Asia 2002 Awards, Honourable Mention for 'Excellence in Design'.
- World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence 2003, Article of the Year Award "Into The spicy Heartland of the Middle Kingdom." (Ron Gluckman, October/November 2002 Edition).
- Society of Publication Designers 38th Annual Showcase and Exhibition, Design Merit "Brave New Bangkok" (October/November 2003 edition).
- Advertising Design Club of Canada, Merit Award for Editorial Features Design "Quiet Days in Kyoto" (January/March 2002).
With a print run of 30,000 and a readership of 90,000 DestinAsian is now regular reading for affluent individuals residing in key Asian cities, especially Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
Published bimonthly, it is distributed through newsstands, subscriptions, in-flight and controlled circulation to countries and airlines in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The aim is to reach those individuals who not only enjoy travel but who also appreciate the finer things in life.
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