Young Women in Tourism Awards – The Winners!

Women in Tourism are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Young Women in Tourism Awards. We raised a glass to our worthy winners on Wednesday 12 June 2019 with an evening of fizz, canapés and networking at The Place Hotel, Edinburgh. You can find out more about the winners below, and recap on the incredible shortlist of nominees here.

Rising Star of the Year Award – Sponsored by HIT Scotland

WINNER: Liz Robinson – Conferencing and Banqueting Manager, Fairmont St Andrews Resort

Liz Robinson is Conference & Banqueting Manager and a key leader within the food and beverage department. Liz possessed an undeniable passion for the hospitality industry from the age of 13. She attended the Hotel Management School Maastricht, Netherlands for her formal training. Afterwards, she worked internationally at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, Washington D.C. where she severed as a Food and Beverage Management Intern for one year.

Liz was hired at Fairmont St Andrews in 2015 as a bar supervisor rising quickly through the company. In the four years she has worked at the company Liz has been promoted from bar supervisor to supervisor at St Andrews Bar & Grill our premiere food venue, after which she was further promoted to the assistant manager. In October 2017 Liz was appointed Conference & Banqueting Manager. Following her appointment to the manager, her team scored a 97% on the internal colleague engagement survey, one of the highest scores in the company as a whole.

Liz has overseen a dramatic transformation in our conference and banqueting department culminating in a £1 million refurbishment of our event space. Liz has various other responsibilities within the team including coordinating all F&B purchasing, the upkeep of revenue management systems and assisting newer team members. According to her own colleagues, Liz is a fantastic member of the team and a shining light for the future.

Liz will now embark on a bespoke internship with HIT Scotland, as well as enjoying a year’s WIT membership as part of her prize. 

Tourism Influencer of the Year Award – Sponsored by Expedia

WINNER: Kathi Kamleitner, Blogger, Watch Me See

Kathi Kamleitner is a travel writer and photographer from Austria based in Glasgow since 2013. After several years of writing for other travel publications, Kathi launched Watch Me See in 2016. It is a Scotland travel blog on which she shares practical advice, itineraries and destination guides for Scotland and posts inspiring stories encouraging slow, responsible and of the beaten path tourism. Kathi covers Scotland from many angles but topics such as vegan food, adventurous outdoor activities and female solo travel are particularly important issues for her. As a vegan, Kathi also writes about vegan-friendly tourism in Scotland, and as an avid solo traveller and hiker, issues of female solo travel are regularly featured on the blog and its social media channels.

Kathi’s content has a tangible impact and encourages more people to visit Scotland.  Kathi engages with people from around the world on a daily basis across my platforms
and inspires them to consider Scotland for their next holiday. She is outspoken about empowering women in particular to travel more, go on solo adventures and make once-in-a-lifetime experiences in Scotland and reaches a wide range of people with her content, promoting sustainable and responsible tourism; local Scottish businesses contributing to making the Scottish tourism industry a more diverse place.

Kathi will now embark on a week’s internship with Expedia, giving her a behind the scenes looks at how the travel giant functions, as well as enjoying a year’s WIT membership as part of her prize. 

Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Sponsored by Entrepreneurial Scotland

WINNER: Eilidh Carr – Owner, Coralbox Gift Shop, Berneray, North Uist

Coralbox Gift Shop was founded in late autumn of 2015 by Eilidh at the age of 22. After moving away to mainland Scotland to study photography, Eilidh missed the way of island life, quieter pace and the beautiful beaches. After completing her studies, Eilidh decided to move back home to the Hebrides, where the idea of Coralbox began to flourish. Noticing a gap in the market for local photography merchandise available for sale to both visitors and locals, Eilidh started using her own photography as a source of inspiration. An idea to sell coaster and mug items, all printed with locally taken photographs began – first at craft fairs and shows around the Islands. Eilidh uses her own printers and heat presses to print each item.

As demand began to grow, a 2 -berth Dalesman caravan was converted into a small shop – a base for people to visit and buy items. That summer work also began on a new shop purpose built wooden gift shop, in which Coralbox trades from today. This was constructed from start to finish by Eilidh’s father. During the life of Coralbox, Eilidh has received no funding or help from any Government or Council group. Coralbox is a story of true ambition and love for photography, alongside Eilidh now being able to work and live back where she grew up as a child and give back to the area and visitors.

Eilidh will now embark on a year’s membership with Entrepreneurial Scotland, helping her to grow and develop her business, as well as enjoying a year’s WIT membership as part of her prize. 

Student of the Year Award – Sponsored by VisitScotland

WINNER: Rosalyn Watson – International Tourism Studies, Edinburgh Napier University

Having began her career in the tourism industry, Rosalyn went on to study a degree in tourism, demonstrating her great passion and drive for the industry. Conscious of current issues such as sustainability and tourism’s environmental impacts, Rosalyn demonstrated a thorough knowledge and understanding of the sector, in addition to general industry awareness.

Rosalyn’s strong ambitions to work for a UNESCO Heritage Site further add to her passion of ensuring the tourism industry can be enjoyed by future generations to come. Rosalyn will now embark on a bespoke internship with VisitScotland, as well as enjoying a year’s WIT membership as part of her prize. 

To all Young Women in Tourism Awards entrants, winners and sponsors, we offer heartfelt congratulations, and thank everyone for helping us make the inaugural Young Women in Tourism Awards such a big success.

Women in Tourism would like to wish each and every one one of our winners the very best, and look forward to hearing more from this vibrant pool of tourism stars!