The short answer: adventure tourism awards recognise the operators, ground handlers and destinations that make active travel safe, well guided and memorable. At the International Travel Awards, adventure businesses enter the category built for their role: companies that design and run itineraries usually enter Best Tour Operator, ground handlers enter Best DMC, destinations enter Best Tourism Board, and operators with a measured environmental programme can add the Sustainable Travel Award. A strong entry shows how the business manages safety, supports its guides, cares for the places it visits and looks after its guests.
What adventure tourism awards recognise
Adventure travel asks more of a business than most kinds of tourism. Guests walk, ride, paddle, dive or climb in places where conditions change and help may be some distance away. The trip has to feel exciting while being carefully managed, and it has to leave the trail, river or reef in good condition for the next group and for the people who live there.
That is why adventure recognition looks beyond scenery. The people reviewing an entry want to understand four things: how the business keeps guests safe, how its guides are trained and supported, how it treats the environment and local communities, and what guests actually experience from booking to the end of the trip. The judging process reviews each entry against the criteria for its own category, and the adventure tourism awards page gives an overview of how active travel is recognised.
Adventure travel categories and who should enter
There is no single adventure category in the International Travel Awards list. Instead, each type of adventure business enters the category that matches its role. The table below maps common adventure businesses to the categories that suit them.
| Type of business | Category to consider | What the category focuses on |
|---|---|---|
| Trekking, cycling, safari, diving and multi-activity operators that design and sell trips | Best Tour Operator | Itinerary design, guiding, safety, supplier management and the guest experience across the whole trip |
| Ground handlers running adventure programmes in one destination | Best DMC (Destination Management Company) | Local arrangements, permits, transport, guides and logistics for groups, agencies and incentive trips |
| Destinations and tourism boards promoting outdoor travel | Best Tourism Board | How a destination develops, manages and promotes its outdoor and active travel offer |
| Lodges, camps and resorts built around outdoor activities | A hotel or resort category that fits the property | Accommodation, service and setting; the hotel and resort categories guide helps with the choice |
| Operators with a measured environmental or community programme | Sustainable Travel Award | Practical actions with results you can show, such as lower impact, local benefit and conservation support |
| Businesses with a new product, safety tool or way of operating | Travel Innovation Award | A new idea with a clear effect on guests, guides or the places visited |
| Newer adventure companies | Travel Startup of the Year | Early growth, a clear idea and the foundations of a well-run business |
Founders and senior leaders whose decisions shaped how an adventure business operates can also consider Travel Leader of the Year, and younger founders can look at Young Travel Entrepreneur. The full list, with eligibility notes, is on the award categories page.
Showing how safety works in practice
Safety is the part of an adventure entry that deserves the most care, and the part that is most often described too generally. A sentence saying that safety is the top priority tells the reader very little. What helps is a clear picture of how safety decisions are made on an ordinary day and on a difficult one.
- Before the trip. How activities and routes are risk-assessed, how guests are told about fitness levels and conditions, and how health information is collected and used.
- Guides and training. The first-aid and activity training guides hold, how often it is refreshed, and the guide-to-guest ratios used for each activity.
- Equipment. How equipment is chosen, checked, maintained and replaced, and who is responsible for each step.
- Conditions on the day. How weather, water levels, altitude or wildlife activity are monitored, and who has the authority to change or stop an activity.
- When something goes wrong. Communication plans, evacuation arrangements, how incidents are recorded and how lessons are fed back into training.
One or two short examples of real decisions, such as turning a group back before a pass or moving a river trip to a safer section, show judgement better than any policy document. Describe them without personal details about guests.
Guides, porters and local teams
On an adventure trip, the guide is often the person guests remember most. An entry should explain how guides are recruited, trained and supported, and how their knowledge of the landscape, wildlife and culture shapes the trip. Where porters, drivers, cooks or local specialists are part of the team, describe how their work is organised: fair pay, sensible loads and rest where relevant, suitable clothing and equipment, and a path for people to move into guiding or management roles.
The share of the team hired from the region, and the way local staff are involved in planning routes and experiences, also tells reviewers a great deal about how the business works with the places it visits.
Caring for places and communities
Adventure travel depends on wild and rural places staying healthy. Reviewers look for practical, measured actions rather than general statements. Useful areas to describe include group-size limits, how trail or reef damage is avoided, wildlife viewing guidelines that guides follow, how waste is handled in remote areas, and how much of each trip's spending stays with local suppliers, homestays and guides.
If environmental work is a major part of the business and you can show results, consider a separate entry for the Sustainable Travel Award. Keep any claim specific and modest: describe what you do, how you measure it and what has changed, and avoid broad promises.
Evidence that carries weight
The strongest adventure entries are built from records the business already keeps. The table below lists the kinds of evidence that tend to help. Include only what you genuinely track and can verify.
| Evidence | What it shows | Most relevant for |
|---|---|---|
| Safety procedures and how they are reviewed | That risk is managed deliberately and improved over time | All adventure businesses |
| Guide training and refresh records | The skill and preparation of the people leading trips | Operators, DMCs |
| Guest feedback and repeat travellers | Whether guests value the experience and come back | Operators, lodges, DMCs |
| Examples of changed plans | Judgement when weather, conditions or logistics changed | Operators, DMCs |
| Group-size limits and site guidelines | Care for trails, reefs, wildlife and communities | Operators, destinations |
| Local hiring and supplier spending | How much of the benefit stays in the region | All, and a possible second entry |
| Approved guest or partner feedback | What people say in their own words, quoted with permission | All |
Describing a signature trip
A single well-described itinerary often explains a business better than a catalogue of destinations. Choose one trip that represents how you operate and walk the reader through it: who it is designed for, how guests are prepared before departure, what a typical day looks like, where the main safety decisions are made, how local guides and suppliers are involved, and how the trip ends. Mention one moment where the plan had to change and how the team handled it.
This structure keeps the entry concrete. It lets reviewers see the business through a guest's eyes while also showing the planning behind the experience.
Writing the entry
Adventure businesses often have strong stories, and the risk is letting the scenery tell the story instead of the operation. Lead with what makes your trips well run, then support each point with an example or a figure you can stand behind.
- Be specific about activities. Name the activities, regions and difficulty levels you operate, so the reader understands the scope of the business.
- Show judgement, not bravado. Careful decisions in difficult conditions say more than descriptions of thrills.
- Use images you own. Include only photos your business owns or is licensed to use, with the agreement of anyone pictured.
- Check every figure. Only include numbers you can verify, and describe the business as it operates today.
For a step-by-step view of the entry itself, read how to win a travel award and how to nominate. Smaller operators may also find the guide for independent and smaller properties useful, as much of its advice on building an entry without a large team applies to small adventure companies too.
Using recognition with travellers and partners
Adventure travellers often research carefully before booking, because the trip asks a lot of them. Recognition from an international programme gives them an outside reference point alongside reviews and recommendations. Common uses include a note on trip pages and the website's about page, a line in proposals to agency and group partners, a mention in pre-departure communications, and a short announcement to past guests. Inside the business, sharing the result with guides and field teams acknowledges the people who lead the trips. The article on how awards help travel companies covers this in more depth. Always use the exact programme name and category when you mention the award.
A checklist for adventure tourism entries
- Decide which role your business plays: operator, ground handler, destination or accommodation.
- Choose the category built for that role, and consider whether sustainability, innovation or leadership has its own strong story.
- Write down how safety works before, during and after a trip, with one or two real examples.
- Describe how guides and local teams are trained, supported and involved.
- Gather the guest feedback, training records and environmental measures you genuinely track.
- Choose a signature trip to describe from start to finish.
- Check that every photo is yours to use and every figure can be verified.
- Review the plans on the nomination price page and start your nomination.
Browsing the past winners directory shows the range of businesses each category recognises, and the travel awards FAQ answers common questions about eligibility. If you are unsure which category fits, use the contact page and describe your activities, the regions you operate in and the evidence you plan to submit.