Against the backdrop of the 2018 Academy Awards this Sunday, Amadeus Africa has compiled the first ever shortlist of travel movies as selected by travel consultants.
“Who better to judge a travel movie than a travel consultant?” says Jannine Adams, Senior Marketing Manager Amadeus Southern Africa. “While everyone is discussing the merits of 'The Shape of Water' as the big winner of this year’s Oscars and the inspiring acceptance speech of Frances McDormand, we thought it would be fun to make African travel agents the judge in the first-ever listing of travel movies as selected by travel consultants in Africa.”
Over 1850 travel consultants from across Africa voted for their favourite travel movie in five different categories.
And the winners are:
Best Adventure Travel Movie – Under the Tuscan Sun
With 628 votes, travel agents were most inspired by the writer who impulsively buys a villa in Tuscany in order to change her life, in ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’.
The runner up in this category with 625 votes was ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’.
Other nominated movies include ‘The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold’ and ‘The Darjeeling Limited’.
Best Experience Travel Movie – Eat Pray Love
Elizabeth Gilbert’s soul-baring memoir, ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, not only inspired thousands of women to change their lives, it also inspired travel consultants. Seven hundred ninety-four consultants voted for this “experience travel movie” about a 34-year-old who sets out on a journey to find herself by visiting Italy, India and Bali.
The runner up in this category with 578 votes was ‘Into the Wild’.
Other nominated movies include ‘Thelma and Louise’ and ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’.
Best Business Travel Movie – Up in the Air
Shrinking travel budgets resonates with travel agents across Africa. Nine hundred twenty-five travel consultants voted ‘Up in the Air’ as the Best Business Travel Movie. This move depicts a corporate hatchet man, who is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes the travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years: reaching five million frequent flyer miles.
The runner up in this category was ‘The Accidental Tourist’ with 510 votes.
Other nominated movies include ‘Lost in translation’ and ‘Welcome to the Sticks’.
Best Exceptional and Different Travel Experiences Movie – The Terminal
Travel consultants frequently advise their clients on long lay-overs at the airport and lounge access options. With 727 votes, The Terminal was selected as the Best Exceptional and Different Travel Experience Movie. In this movie, Viktor Navorski is a visitor to New York from Eastern Europe.
Unauthorised to actually enter the United States, he is stranded at the airport and must improvise his days and nights in the terminal's international transit lounge.
Runner up in this category is ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ with 387 votes.
Other nominated movies include ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Up’.
Best Travel Movie Overall – The Terminal
‘The Terminal’ was also voted as the Best Travel Movie Overall with 201 votes, followed by ‘Eat, Pray, Love’.
Other movies travel consultants mentioned were ‘The Beach’, ‘Out of Africa’, ‘The Bucket List’, ‘Eurotrip’ and ‘Before Sunrise’.