About

Kay Showker was destined to be a travel and cruise writer, having taken her first trans-Atlantic voyage at age two.  Over the intervening years, she has visited 120 destinations around the world and authored 15 guidebooks.

Following a 10-year tenure as an editor and travel journalist at Travel Weekly, a major U.S. travel trade publications, Showker became a freelance writer/photographer.  In addition to guidebooks,  she wrote AOL’s Cruise Critic/Caribbean for three years, and has appeared as a travel expert on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and The Travel Channel.

Showker’s newest publication is her first e-book, Jamaica – Naturally, A Guide for Today’s Active Travelers, and the first of a series, The Caribbean – Naturally, Island Guides for Active Travelers, which she is writing.  Her other current books are Caribbean Ports of Call (Globe Pequot Press), The 100 Best Resorts in the Caribbean (Globe Pequot Press); Unofficial Guide to Cruises (John Wiley) a Lowell Thomas “Best Guidebook of the Year” gold winner; the Outdoor Traveler’s Guide to the Caribbean (Stewart, Tabori), a Lowell Thomas “Best Guidebook” silver winner.

Her Middle East guidebooks have included Fodor’s Egypt, which she wrote and edited for 17 years; Fodor’s Jordan and the Holy Land; The Arab Middle East covering five Arab countries, as well as Travel Lebanon, Travel Jordan and Travel Egypt.  Her articles have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Town & Country, Travel & Leisure, Caribbean Travel & Life, Luxury Travel Advisor, USA Today,  and other magazines and newspapers across the country.

Showker got her master’s degree at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University; B.A. from the University of Mary Washington; and attended Georgetown University, American University at Cairo, and Cairo University.  She was the first recipient of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Journalism Award; the first journalist to receive Martinique’s Sucrier d’Or, a personal achievement award; “Travel Writer of the Year” from the Bahamas Hotel Association, among other awards. She is a member of the American Society of Journalist and Authors, New York Travel Writers Association and the Society of American Travel Writers for which she served as Northeast Chapter chairperson, 2002-2004.