Greg Dickinson
The Telegraph
Greg’s articles for Telegraph Travel range from consumer advice columns to colourful destination features, celebrity interviews to in-depth long reads. The thread between all of Greg’s stories is his candid, observant, in-depth writing style, allergic to cliches.
One of the submitted articles, “The abandoned Home Counties airport being brought back from the dead” is a good example of this. In recent years there have been controversial proposals to reopen Manston Airport (formerly Kent International) on the outskirts of Ramsgate. The opening line is an example of Greg’s ability to hook a reader and to compel them to read on: “Standing on the abandoned Manston airstrip – a southwesterly wind whipping up the runway, weeds fighting for their lives in the cracks of the concrete – it is hard to imagine that within four years this unprepossessing corner of Kent could be the site of the UK’s newest airport.”
In April, Greg visited Venice on the day that city authorities introduced a controversial new €5 entry fee. Never one to watch from the sidelines, he was soon in the thick of the demonstration against the new scheme. His ability to combine lively reportage with analysis is showcased in the closing passage of this article: “On the front line there were not balaclava-wearing mobs-for-hire, but white-haired ladies in puffy down jackets. Looking the police dead in the eye, they unfurled their final banner. ‘Welcome to Veniceland,’ it read. As of this week, Venice is no longer turning into Disneyland. The transformation is complete.”
Equally valuable for Telegraph Travel readers, of course, is that they feel inspired to travel to places that they might never have thought to visit. In October, Greg visited Denmark’s second city, Aarhus. The piece is a fine example of Greg’s flair for evocative turns of phrase. For example, the air in the city is “that Scandinavian brand of menthol crisp”, he stumbles across a futuristic car park which “swallows up your car through a trap door and then burps it back out when you return”, the harbour is “concrete and functional, more Maersk than Monaco”. Moreover, the story provides exactly the insight that travellers need should they be planning a trip, with considered examples of the best places in the city to stay, eat and drink.
Aside from the written word, Greg is a talented multimedia storyteller. He has become a recognised face across Telegraph Travel’s social media channels through his compelling self-shot videos, and is regularly called upon by national radio stations as an authority on travel matters.
Greg’s impressively broad skill set and dedication to his craft mark him out as a leading light, and his stories always deliver exactly what the reader needs.