I’ve just been asked to submit entries on behalf of the Telegraph for a travel writing competition run by the Central America Tourism Promotion Agency, CATA. The winner will earn a return trip to Costa Rica.
  Now, if a region like Costa Rica can offer such a prize, how come better-off places can’t? There seems to me to be a trend towards stinginess in awards for travel writing. At a ceremony staged recently by the tourism marketing body of one of the richest countries in the world, there were no prizes other than certificates. At another ceremony, staged by a regional trade body, the certificates weren’t even framed or printed on stiff card; they had been run off on economy paper on the office printer and folded so they would fit into office envelopes.
  A framed certificate is a perfectly acceptable way to acknowledge excellence among, say, travel companies, but it seems a mean way to recognise great work by an individual, especially in an age when freelance travel writers, who provide so much of our copy, are struggling to make a living. Next time I am asked to submit entries for an award, I’ll ask what the prize is going to be.