Y’all, a Black Canadian creator’s travel series has been recognized at the 2026 Black Travel Film Festival. Let’s celebrate that.

A press release from Natalie Preddie’s team, dated October 19, reports that Beyond the Resort won the festival’s Short Form & Social category. The award recognizes the series’ debut season, filmed in Saint Lucia and premiered on YouTube in March 2026.

One sourcing note, because celebrations deserve accurate receipts: the win is reported by Preddie’s team. The festival information available publicly describes its categories, but we could not independently verify the winner from a public results listing.

Still, the work is right there for you to watch. And the idea behind it? Worth a proper cheer.

Not just a beach shot

Beyond the Resort takes viewers past the familiar resort-focused travel story. Preddie’s series centres the people, businesses and cultures that make a destination home.

That means conversations, cultural experiences and visits to locally owned businesses. It means asking who benefits from tourism, not only where visitors can book a room. The series’ official site describes its focus on Caribbean culture, Black-owned businesses and local experiences.

Preddie created, wrote and hosts the series. The press release credits Mid-Career Productions as producer, with Executive Producer Natanya Barrocks and Director/Producer Tristan Barrocks.

That’s a team effort behind a clear editorial choice. A destination is not a backdrop. Its people are not supporting cast. And a travel story can be entertaining without treating local culture like set dressing. Simple, right?

The festival itself was established to amplify Black travel filmmakers and creators, according to the Black Travel Summit’s FAQ. So recognition in its Short Form & Social category places this reported win within a community built to make Black travel stories more visible.

It matters cause:

Black-led travel storytelling still needs room to show more than the brochure version of a place.

Beyond the Resort puts local voices, cultural context and community businesses into the frame. That approach can help audiences see the relationship between tourism and local economies, while giving viewers a reason to look beyond the standard itinerary.

For creators, the recognition is a useful proof point: a focused story can travel. Preddie’s project has a defined premise, a named series and a full season audiences can find. This is more than one good post or a pretty clip. It is a repeatable format with room to grow.

That distinction matters. Don’t copy the celebrity. Study the career mechanics. Preddie’s team built a series around a clear question: what do travellers miss when they stay inside the resort experience? Then they made episodes that explore that question through people and place.

Creators in Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton and everywhere else can apply the same thinking to their own fields. Choose a specific lens. Make a body of work around it. Give people a clear way to watch, follow and return.

And make sure your story has a point beyond the first scroll. A viral moment can bring attention. A durable project gives that attention somewhere to go.

The work behind the win

Preddie’s team also reports a string of other career milestones in 2026: two Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award Honourable Mentions, one for Travel Journalist of the Year and another for Best Cultural Story; recognition among Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch; and a 2026 Island Icon nomination from CaribBiz Network. The release also lists her 2025 Female Travel Creator of the Year award.

Her work has appeared in National Geographic, The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star, and she is a regular travel expert on Breakfast Television, according to the release.

There’s also a book deal. Preddie has secured a publishing deal with Viking Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, for her forthcoming memoir, What the Blood Remembers. The release says the book will explore Jamaican ancestry, identity, colonial history and stories passed through generations.

That range is worth noticing. Travel journalism, television, a documentary series and a forthcoming memoir are different formats, but they build around a consistent interest in culture, identity and the stories people carry. That is how creative work can expand without losing its centre.

Watch the series

The complete Saint Lucia season is available through the Beyond the Resort YouTube channel. Start there, then check out these short clips:

• Watch a short from the series
• Watch another short from the series

The clips offer a quick look at the series’ perspective: the Caribbean is not one interchangeable destination, and there is more to a place than the view from a resort. Go watch, then pass the series along to someone who plans trips with curiosity and care.

A Canadian creator has put a distinct point of view on screen, built a series around it and, according to her team’s announcement, earned festival recognition for it. That is a community win. Let’s give the work its flowers, y’all.

Have you watched Beyond the Resort? What local story do you wish more travel shows would tell?

Sources

• Beyond the Resort official website
• Beyond the Resort YouTube channel
• Beyond the Resort short 1
• Beyond the Resort short 2
• Black Travel Film Festival on FilmFreeway
• Black Travel Summit FAQ