© Johnny Haglund/www.tpoty.com

Organisers explained in a statement: ‘Not everybody packs their camera when they travel, but they still take photographs, and Smart Shot, iCaptured – a new single image category for pictures taken on a mobile phone or tablet – is aimed at those travellers.’

The winner of this category will receive £500, plus a place on a photography course.

Tatio Geysers at sunrise, Atacama Desert© Ignacio Palacios/www.tpoty.com

Meanwhile, this year’s New Talent category, which targets aspiring professional photographers, carries the theme ‘Street Culture’.

Up for grabs is £1,000, a mentoring day with a TPOTY judge and a personalised Plastic Sandwich Portfolio case or iFolio.

The 2015 portfolio categories are: Faces, People, Encounters, Monochromal and Nature & Environment.

Categories also include one for HD video shooters.

The overall winner of Travel Photographer of the Year 2015 stands to pocket £2,500 and gain huge international exposure.

Former winner, Canadian photographer Darwin Wiggett, commented on the impact the win had on his business: ‘It was like my work suddenly had legitimacy and a large audience.

‘My work featured in major photo magazines and newspapers around the globe and people began buying my prints.

‘My book orders tripled, stock photo requests doubled and visits to my website increased ten-fold.’

Images for Travel Photographer of the Year 2015 can be submitted online at www.tpot.com, or as prints.

Entry fees start at £7.50 and the closing date is 1 October. Entry to Young Travel Photographer of the Year is free.

For full details visit www.tpoty.com

TPOTY-WildVibrant-COM-ANewey.web© Andrew Newey/www.tpoty.com