Goway celebrates creativity with inaugural Micro Film Festival

Goway Travel is marking its 55th anniversary in a novel way: by handing the camera to its community. 

The tour operator has launched the Micro Film Festival, a short-form video competition designed to showcase the creative storytelling of travel advisors and professional content creators alike.

The concept is simple but ambitious: 55-second films that capture the spirit of travel. 

The format nods to Goway’s 55 years in business and its push to embrace new forms of storytelling in the digital age.

“It’s a celebration of creative storytelling,”  said Mitchell Fawcett, VP of marketing at Goway, speaking to PAX. 

“It’s 55-second travel films that are meant to inspire you and move you.”

Travel advisors and creators side by side

The festival was open to both professional creators and travel advisors, giving each group a chance to showcase their perspective on global travel. 

Advisors competed in their own category, while professional creators submitted films that were judged separately.

The travel advisor award was quietly decided on September 2 so that the winner could be flown to Los Angeles in time for the finale event on September 18. 

That prize includes a completed GowayPro Passport — guaranteeing a free FAM trip in 2026 — plus flights, three nights’ accommodation and a $550 GowayPro Virtual Rewards Card. 

Hundreds of entries, global stories

When Goway first introduced the idea, even the team didn’t know what kind of response to expect. 

“It was a totally new concept and we didn’t know what we would get,” Fawcett said.

What arrived was far beyond the company’s expectations: hundreds of submissions featuring destinations from across the globe, spanning Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and beyond. 

“We were thrilled to have travel films from all over the world,” said Fawcett. 

“It’s some serious globetrotting material.”

The breadth of destinations reflects Goway’s own global footprint — the company offers travel to more than 150 countries — and underscores its mission to encourage diverse perspectives in travel storytelling.

Toronto event: audience in the judge’s chair

On September 11, Goway hosted its Audience Choice Event in Toronto, part of the Professional Creator category. 

Hosted by Fawcett along with entertainment reporter Sonia Mangat, the evening screened five shortlisted films before the audience cast their votes. 

The selections showed off a range of perspectives:

• How Beautiful the Unknown Can Be — Toronto-based filmmaker Steven Jesse turned his lens on Antarctica.
• Distance Between Here and Healing — Suzette Burton of New York traced journeys through Egypt, Indonesia, and Ghana.
• A Box for Mom — Yuval Hasid, also from New York, explored stories tied to South America.
• Part of Me — Los Angeles creator Isabelle Victoria captured moments in Japan.
• Vietnam — Toronto’s Matthew Stephenson offered an intimate portrait of travel in Vietnam.

Those votes are being factored into the jury’s decision ahead of the Los Angeles finale. 

Turkish Airlines signed on as the festival’s platinum sponsor, a natural fit given its vast global network and social media presence. 

At the Toronto event, the airline’s partnership was highlighted with a playful red-themed candy buffet.

The event was deliberately timed to coincide with the buzz of the Toronto International Film Festival. 

As Fawcett noted, “TIFF is happening all around us and we wanted to be part of that energy.”

The road to Los Angeles

The festival now heads west for its grand finale on September 18 in Los Angeles. 

The event will take place on the rooftop of The London Hotel in West Hollywood and will be hosted by Emmy Award–winning NBC correspondent Amber Pfister.

There, at a venue famous for Oscar premieres, the winning creators will be honoured on a Hollywood-worthy stage. 

A panel of judges drawn from the travel, tech and social media industries will select the overall winner.

For Goway, the Micro Film Festival is about more than a one-off event. It’s a statement about how travel is promoted, researched and experienced in 2025.

“There has been such a huge movement in content and social media and how travellers and travel advisors discover and research and plan and get inspired by travel,” Fawcett said. 

“This felt like a really good time to celebrate the change in social media storytelling and how important and influential that is for travel.”

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