The finalist slate is set for the 2026 Travel Unity Awards.
This year’s awards recognize individuals and organizations across leadership, community impact, academic research, organizational action, emerging professionals, and inclusive travel storytelling.
Here are the 2026 finalists.
Inclusion Champion
The Inclusion Champion Award recognizes an individual demonstrating leadership in advancing inclusion across the travel industry.
- Justin Barnette
- Julia Cohen Ribeiro
- Dr. Damien L. Duchamp
- Tami Fairweather
- Josh Heinz
- Sherry L. Rupert
- Dr. Antony King Fung Wong
Community Impact
The Community Impact Award recognizes an individual or organization creating meaningful, sustained positive change within communities connected to travel and tourism.
- Cristina Archila
- G Adventures
- Naramatisho Women’s Centre
- PACT
- UnTours Foundation
Organizational Initiative
The Organizational Initiative Award recognizes an innovative, impactful, and replicable organizational initiative centered on inclusive practices. That can include accessibility, workforce initiatives, community engagement, traveler experiences, and product or service design.
The 2026 finalists are:
- Accessibility Accelerator
- Becoming rentABLE
- Greether
- The Porter Voice Collective
- Wowzitude
Academic Research
The Academic Research Award recognizes published, peer-reviewed, or presented research with a thesis anchored in inclusive practices.
The finalists are:
- Tracey Dickson, Simon Darcy, and Stephen Schweinsberg
- Dr. Mary Dawson
- Dr. Emily (Siqi) Lu
- Can-Seng Ooi, Carolyn Philpott, Anne Hardy, Elizabeth Leane, Katie Marx, and Hanne Nielsen
- Heejung Ro
Young Professional
The Young Professional Award recognizes an outstanding professional age 30 or younger making meaningful contributions to advancing inclusion in travel.
The 2026 finalists are:
- Amine Gabbouj
- Gentry Hale
- Anaisha Kundu
- Ninoshka Pais
- Isaiah Tarpein
Inclusive Travel Storytelling
Inclusive Travel Storytelling is new to the Travel Unity Awards in 2026. The category recognizes travel storytelling that broadens representation, elevates perspectives that are often overlooked, and helps audiences better understand people, places, and experiences in travel.
Rather than announcing a single finalist slate, winners across the Inclusive Travel Storytelling subcategories will be announced alongside the other 2026 Travel Unity Award winners.
Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists.
Learn more about the 2026 Travel Unity Awards at:
https://travelunity.org/2026awards
