Sustainable Tourism Awards — Celebrating Responsible Travel Leadership
Recognising the hotels, destinations, airlines, eco operators, and community tourism initiatives that are defining what responsible, low-impact travel looks like in 2026.
The Sustainable Hospitality Award That Sets the Standard for Responsible Travel
The International Travel Awards Sustainable Tourism Awards programme is the travel industry's most credible recognition platform for operators, destinations, and hospitality businesses that have made sustainability not merely a policy statement but a defining characteristic of how they operate. In 2026, the travel industry faces its most consequential sustainability challenge: growing responsibly while genuinely protecting the natural and cultural environments that make travel meaningful in the first place.
Our Sustainable Tourism Awards celebrate the organisations meeting that challenge with substance. The best eco tourism award 2026 goes not to the company with the finest sustainability marketing, but to the operator who can demonstrate with verified data that they have measurably reduced environmental impact, delivered genuine economic benefit to local communities, protected biodiversity, and continuously raised their own standard of responsible practice. Our panel of sustainability experts, environmental scientists, community development specialists, and responsible tourism consultants evaluates every nomination with rigorous independence.
Sustainable Tourism Awards — Six Categories of Environmental & Social Leadership
From eco-certified hotels and zero-waste resorts to sustainable airlines and community-empowering tourism initiatives, our Sustainable Tourism Awards cover every dimension of responsible travel practice.
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Best Sustainable Hotel
Recognising the hotel property that has achieved the most meaningful and measurable combination of environmental impact reduction, renewable energy adoption, water conservation, waste elimination, and supply chain sustainability — without compromising the quality of the guest experience.
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Best Eco Tourism Operator
Celebrating the tour operator whose complete business model is anchored in ecological respect — from itinerary design through to guide training, transport choices, accommodation partner selection, and the active conservation contributions embedded in every booking.
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Best Green Destination
Honouring the destination — island, city, national park, or region — that has embedded sustainability at every level of its tourism economy, from visitor flow management and nature protection to renewable energy policy and community benefit frameworks that ensure tourism serves the destination rather than consuming it.
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Best Sustainable Airline
Recognising the airline that has demonstrated the clearest and most credible pathway to net-zero aviation — through sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) investment, fleet modernisation, inflight waste elimination, ground operations decarbonisation, and transparent climate-related financial disclosure.
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Best Zero-Waste Resort
Celebrating the resort property that has most comprehensively implemented circular economy principles — eliminating single-use plastics, composting all organic waste, operating food-to-plate kitchen gardens, engaging guests as active sustainability participants, and demonstrating verified waste diversion rates that approach or achieve the zero-waste threshold.
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Best Community Tourism Initiative
Recognising the tourism project that has genuinely empowered a local community — delivering direct economic benefit, preserving cultural heritage, securing community consent and ownership, and ensuring that the people who call the destination home are the primary beneficiaries of the tourism activity it generates.
Nominate NowWhy Sustainable Tourism Award Recognition Matters
Official Trophy & Sustainability Certification
Winners receive a custom International Travel Awards trophy and an award certificate that provides internationally recognised validation of your sustainability performance — invaluable for investor ESG reporting and government stakeholder communications.
Winner's Eco-Credential Seal
The "International Travel Awards Sustainable Tourism Winner 2026" seal for your website and marketing materials — credible third-party eco-credential recognition that influences the purchasing decisions of the growing segment of sustainability-conscious travellers.
Sustainability & Travel Media Coverage
Award wins generate coverage across sustainability-focused media, mainstream travel press, and ESG investor publications — simultaneously reaching the conscious consumer segment and the institutional audience tracking responsible business performance in travel.
Gala Ceremony — Dubai, 14 November 2026
Collect your award in person at the International Travel Awards Gala at the Westin Marina Hotel, Dubai — networking with 500+ travel industry leaders, sustainability investors, and destination representatives from around the world.
ESG Reporting & Investor Credentials
Sustainable tourism award recognition provides independent validation for ESG performance disclosures, supporting green bond issuances, sustainability-linked financing, and investor relations communications for publicly listed or private equity-backed travel and hospitality companies.
Responsible Traveller Reach
Winning organisations are featured on the International Travel Awards website, reaching the rapidly growing segment of international travellers who actively seek out sustainable accommodation, eco tour operators, and responsible travel experiences when planning their journeys.
Sustainable Tourism Awards Nomination & Evaluation Process
Submit Nomination
Submit your nomination with verified sustainability performance data — including carbon emissions figures, waste diversion rates, water consumption metrics, local employment percentages, community benefit data, and copies of relevant sustainability certifications.
Expert Evaluation
Our sustainability judging panel — comprising environmental scientists, community development experts, responsible tourism consultants, and verified sustainability auditors — evaluates each nomination for substantive impact rather than marketing presentation.
Shortlist Announcement
Shortlists are published globally, generating meaningful visibility for all finalists among the travel trade, sustainability press, impact investors, and conscious consumers researching responsible travel options before the winner announcement.
Gala Ceremony, Dubai
Winners are announced at the International Travel Awards Gala Ceremony on 14 November 2026 at the Westin Marina Hotel, Dubai — celebrating the leaders of the responsible travel transition in front of the global travel industry.
Sustainable Tourism Awards — Your Questions Answered
Nominate Your Organisation for the International Sustainable Tourism Award 2026
If your hotel, resort, airline, tour operator, or destination is leading the responsible travel transition with measurable impact, submit your nomination for the International Travel Awards Sustainable Tourism Awards 2026.