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The Impact Awards are lying fallow.
A rested field grows better the following season. We're not running the awards in 2026 — we're rebuilding them, and they return in 2027 in a new format. Put your name down and you'll hear first when nominations open.
2025
Grown & harvested
Thirteen categories judged, winners and finalists named. Those results stand — nothing about them changes, and the archive stays online.
2026
Fallow
No nominations, no judging, no ceremony. We're spending the year rebuilding the awards instead of running them.
2027
Newly sown
The Impact Awards return in a new format. Waitlist members hear the details, and the nomination dates, before anyone else.
Rebuilding the awards, not just re-running them.
Four years in, the awards were doing something valuable and something unwieldy at the same time. Rather than paper over it with another round, we're taking the year to answer three questions properly.
Which categories earn their place
Thirteen is a lot. Some categories drew extraordinary entries; others overlapped so heavily that judging became a matter of taste. We're reworking the set so a shortlist means something precise.
How impact gets measured
Right now a strong application can beat a stronger project. We're building a submission and judging process that weighs evidence of outcomes rather than the polish of the write-up — so smaller teams without a comms budget compete on equal ground.
What a win is worth afterwards
Recognition should outlast the announcement. We're designing what winners actually leave with: exposure, connections, and support that keeps working long after the ceremony.
What we recognised last time.
The Impact Awards celebrate people and projects that improve lives, communities, and the world around them — inside travel and well beyond it. The 2025 categories, for reference while we rebuild:
- Regenerative Hotel of the Year
- A hotel acting as a catalyst for change, innovating hospitality for positive social and environmental impact.
- Regenerative Agency of the Year
- A travel agency, DMC or tour operator driving positive change through regenerative practice.
- Regenerative Initiative of the Year
- An initiative advancing regenerative practice and inspiring positive change in travel.
- Regenerative Storyteller of the Year
- A storyteller whose work brings about social and environmental change.
- Regenerative Change Maker of the Year
- A visionary individual driving systemic change for regenerative travel.
- Regenerative Design
- The most innovative and impactful regenerative hotel design.
- Regenerative Travel Experience
- A travel experience launched in the past year that creates regenerative impact.
- Community
- Initiatives promoting equity and honouring culture for vibrant, resilient communities.
- Conservation
- Initiatives restoring ecosystems, biodiversity, or critical species.
- Food & Agriculture
- Initiatives transforming how we source, cultivate, and eat our food.
- Education
- Initiatives championing knowledge equity and community-led educational regeneration.
- Climate
- Initiatives reducing emissions, restoring ecosystems, and building climate resilience.
- Health & Wellness
- Initiatives supporting physical, mental and spiritual health alongside community, culture and nature.
The 2025 judging panel
Vivienne Tang
Founder, Destination Deluxe
Natasha Berg
Founder, Tru Story
Emily Nathan
Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Tiny Atlas Quarterly
Dr. Willy Legrand
Professor of Hospitality Management, IU International University of Applied Sciences
Emilie McGlone
Director, Peace Boat US
Chalana Perera
Founder, RETRACE™ Hospitality
- Can I nominate someone now?
- Not yet. Nominations reopen in 2027 and we'll email the waitlist the moment dates are set. If there's a project you don't want us to forget, reply to the welcome email and tell us about it.
- Are the 2025 winners still recognised?
- Yes, permanently. Winners and finalists keep their titles and the results stay published. A fallow year doesn't undo a harvest.
- Why pause instead of running a smaller edition?
- Because the changes we want to make are structural. Running a reduced version would have meant asking people to prepare submissions for a process we already knew we were replacing.
- Will judging stay the same?
- The panel and the criteria are both part of what's being redesigned. We'll publish the new process before nominations open, so nobody enters blind.