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Time Out's Best Cities has been named Data Initiative of the Year at the 2026 PPA (Professional Publishers Association) Awards, recognising the project as one of the UK's leading examples of audience insight driving editorial impact.
The award celebrates outstanding use of data to deliver measurable value to audiences and businesses. Judges praised Time Out's Best Cities as "an ambitious initiative that transformed complex audience insight into a compelling editorial strategy with strong reach, engagement and clear brand impact."
The PPA Awards are among the UK's most prestigious publishing awards, recognising excellence across media, content, audience engagement, commercial innovation and data. More than 260 entries were submitted across this year's awards programme.
Now in its tenth year, Time Out's Best Cities is one of the brand's most influential global editorial initiatives. Powered by Time Out's proprietary audience research and local expertise, the project captures how residents experience city life around the world, helping identify the most exciting places to live, visit and explore.
Each year, the initiative combines large-scale audience insight with expert evaluation to create a series of globally recognised rankings, including the Best Cities in the world, Best Cities for Food, Best Cities for Culture and Best Cities for Nightlife.
The data generated through Best Cities informs editorial coverage, audience strategy, commercial partnerships and thought leadership across the business, while helping millions of readers discover the best of city life.
Lewis Corner, Head of Content (UK) at Time Out Media, said:
"Best Cities sits at the intersection of what makes Time Out unique: trusted editorial curation, global reach and a deep understanding of how people experience their cities.
We're incredibly proud that the project has been recognised by the PPA Awards. This is a testament to the work of our editorial, insights, data, product and communications teams, and to the thousands of people around the world who share their experiences with us every year."
Grace Beard, Travel Editor at Time Out and key spokesperson for the Best Cities project, commented:
""Time Out’s Best Cities stands out because it centres on what locals love about their city and celebrates the everyday aspects of urban life. This award is a fantastic recognition of the project’s growth over the last ten years and reinforces Time Out’s position as the global authority on city travel. ”"
Anna Norfolk, Insights and Trade Marketing Director at Time Out, added:
"At its heart, Best Cities is about listening to local people. The award recognises not just the scale of the project, but our commitment to turning real experiences into meaningful insight that helps shape editorial strategy and supports business growth.
We're delighted to see the methodology, innovation and collaboration behind the project recognised by the industry."
Over the past decade, Time Out's Best Cities has become one of the brand's highest-profile editorial franchises, generating millions of pageviews, extensive international media coverage and global conversation about what makes cities great places to live, work, visit and explore.
Over the past decade, Time Out's Best Cities has become one of the brand's highest-profile editorial franchises, generating millions of pageviews, extensive international media coverage and global conversation about what makes cities great places to live, work, visit and explore.
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