We’re delighted to reveal the winners of the third edition of our prestigious Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award 2025.
The champions from our two categories – Travel & Destinations and Accommodation – were announced during a special ceremony at ITB Berlin, led by Equality in Tourism trustee Teesta Raha and Michelle Mason from our lead sponsor World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance.
With diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives increasingly under threat, the ceremony at the LGBTQ+ Tourism Pavilion felt more significant than ever. We must keep celebrating equitable practices and encouraging their adoption in the tourism industry.
Our two winners and our highly commended candidate all offer a shining example for industry peers to learn from.
Travel & Destinations Winner: Responsible Travel, Ecuador
Our judging panel felt South American travel operator Responsible Travel “lives and breathes gender equality”, as evidenced in an outstanding application and a public declaration of their values on their website.
Since making our 2024 shortlist, they’ve continued to strengthen their commitment to gender equality. That includes within their environmental recovery projects, positioning women as community leaders.
Accommodation Winner: Community Homestay Network, Nepal
The judges praised this social enterprise homestay network on their thorough and transparent gender equality efforts. These run throughout their business, covering areas such as disaster risk reduction, climate risk and gender awareness training. Their gender policy is also publicly available on their website, adding to their credibility and transparency.
Highly Commended: Amba Yaalu Kandalama, Sri Lanka
The panel also highly commended the new Amba Yaalu (Mango Friends) Kandalama hotel, spotlighting them as a promising tourism actor with huge potential. Run by the Thema Collection, this is Sri Lanka’s first 100% female-staffed hotel and has provided jobs for 70 women.
These organisations follow in the footsteps of Eternal Landscapes Mongolia, Accor Brazil Embrace Program and Travel Excellence – our former Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award winners who have all pushed boundaries and made impactful strides towards a more balanced workplace.
Industry Partners Championing Change
We’re grateful once again to the distinguished panel of global gender and tourism experts who dedicated their time to judging this year’s Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award.
The panel included representatives from our two award sponsors – Michelle Mason from the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and Dawn Briggs from Sojern. They were joined by Hector De Castro of Regenera Luxury, Rika Jean-François of MissionRespo, and UNWTO consultant Lucy Ferguson.
Michelle commented on why supporting the award is important to the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance: “Our mission is to create a fairer and more inclusive hospitality industry. As a sponsor of the Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award, we proudly support Equality in Tourism in recognising inspiring organisations that go beyond words to create real impact.”
“All of the shortlisted nominees exemplify extraordinary dedication to advancing gender equality. We celebrate and recognise their commitment to the cause, as true changemakers in our industry.”
It was also great to hear insights from Scott W. Thornburg, Sr. Director, Marketing and Communications at Sojern, during the panel discussion on Employee Resource Groups that followed our ceremony.
Be Part of Gender Equality Champion of the Year 2026
We may have only just handed over the trophies to our 2025 Champions, but we’re already looking ahead to the 2026 edition of the award!
If you share the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and Sojern’s enthusiasm for championing an equitable industry via the award, talk to us about becoming a sponsor. Investing in this prestigious award is a way to pledge your commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and drive transformative change in tourism.
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