Photo by Mariann Liimal

 

US writer Todd Pitock has just won a very prestigious journalism award – a gold Lowell Thomas Award in the foreign travel category –  for his story about Estonia as the land of saunas and startups, the Facebook group "Estonian Saunas" writes.

We've met a lot of journalists in the sauna over the years to chat about Estonia and its sauna tradition – but you never quite know what, if any, story is going to emerge from it.

 

Todd was an absolute delight to host.

 

We gave him a baptism of fire inside Kalma saun in Tallinn and he also travelled down to Mooska talu (in South Estonia) where Eda Veeroja taught him about Võro smoke sauna traditions.

The story he wrote was fantastic, packed with information but also conveying a deep interest in our country. It was a very pleasant surprise that the Boston Globe made it the lead front cover story for their magazine.

 

Then it was reprinted by the Reader’s Digest. Now his story has received a gold Lowell Thomas Award in the foreign travel category.

Here in Estonia, the biggest credit goes to Visit Estonia - and specifically Eeva Lillemägi who managed this trip.

 

We may be a little off the beaten track, but they work incredibly hard in partnership with us in the private sector to introduce our country to the world and bring more visitors.

 

This year alone, Visit Estonia has brought 118 journalists here.

 

This has, of course, been even more challenging in recent years but we are ready to reopen to the world again (such as through the World Sauna Race 2022!) and show that this is an incredible nation of saunas, startups, and so, so, so much more.

Here’s why the judges chose Todd’s story:

Todd Pitock's entry stood out for three reasons.

 

First, the writing was superb. The tone was friendly and almost a personal conversation. This story was the work of a wordsmith and a delight to read.

 

Second, it no doubt piqued the curiosity of readers to no end. Estonia? Some readers may never have thought of Estonia until now.

 

Third, it was packed with useful information. Tucked in the entertaining story was real travelogue information about a destination few readers have seen in a guidebook. Now they’re ready to go.

The story is online here: https://tinyurl.com/3y9afr97

Final fun fact: The Boston Globe picked a photo for their cover from Toolbox Estonia, a great resource managed by Enterprise Estonia (EAS) for media materials about Estonia.

 

Coincidentally, they picked a photo from the same shoot that the New York Times also used for the cover of their magazine.

 

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