Every year, Travel + Leisure presents its Global Vision Awards, where we acknowledge individuals, products, destinations, and organizations pioneering sustainable and eco-friendly travel. These visionaries are focused on the future of travel—and are dedicated to ensuring that we, as humans, can continue to explore the world without damaging it as we go along.  

This year, our panel of experts—their expertise varying throughout the travel sector—nominated companies, destinations, and individuals they believe are creating meaningful change. After much consideration, we narrowed down the list to 25 winners, each making a tangible impact on how we experience the world. We hope their work inspires others to embrace more sustainable and responsible travel.

Winners by Category

The Full List of 2025 Winners

Destinations and Hotels

Little St. Simons Island

Summer-camp vibes meet serious climate science at Georgia’s Little St. Simons Island, about two hours south of Savannah by car. Home to the century-old Hunting Lodge and five cozy cottages, the 11,000-acre island is surrounded by carefully managed tidal estuaries where naturalists guide kayak outings, bird-watching rambles, and beach walks along seven miles of undeveloped shoreline. Stays on the island help support the Center for Coastal Conservation, the group that oversees ongoing preservation of the ecosystem. Often, in collaboration with the lodge, it hosts researchers and volunteers who come for activities such as fitting tracking bands on songbirds and monitoring the loggerhead sea turtles that nest in the area. “We help with conservation by getting people out here and reminding them why it’s so important to take care of the planet,” general manager Jamie Pazur says. “We also show them a good time.” ​—Elaine Glusac

Leading Hotels of the World

Founded in 1928, Leading Hotels of the World has grown to a consortium of more than 400 luxury properties, all still independently owned, in more than 80 countries. One of its most recent innovations is putting its greenest hotels front and center, with the launch of the Sustainable Leaders collection. These 109 pace-setters have gone above and beyond in reducing water use, improving energy efficiency, thoughtfully integrating local cultural heritage into programming, and investing in fair hiring practices. Just as importantly, the most forward-thinking hoteliers are a source of positive peer pressure, incentivizing the rest of the organization to match these achievements, says Lauren Alba, a vice president at Leading Hotels. “It’s already doubled in size since 2023.” ​—Hannah Selinger

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Orchids dangle from the ceiling of the welcome center at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Opened in 2024, it’s one element of a redesign that’s turning the Selby into one of the most cutting-edge institutions of its kind. The $57 million first phase has already helped transform this waterfront attraction into a test-bed for sustainable architecture. Just 10 months after the debut of its new visitors’ center, solar-powered restaurant, and research facilities, the Selby faced Hurricane Milton, the powerful storm that lashed southwestern Florida in October. Though the gardens did suffer some damage, a new underground stormwater filtration system intended to clean and return rainwater to Sarasota Bay performed exactly as designed. “We have the ability to educate the public about sustainability and really demonstrate it to a broad audience,” says Jennifer O. Rominiecki, the Selby’s president and CEO.​​​ —E.G.

Leela Palaces, Hotels, & Resorts

A favorite brand of T+L readers, the Mumbai-based Leela Palaces, Hotels, & Resorts is known for its over-the-top accommodations and superlative service including, famously, the shower of rose petals that greets guests as they arrive at the Leela Palace Udaipur. But it’s what becomes of those flowers—as well as arrangements in the lobbies and rooms—that demonstrates the hotel group’s commitment to waste reduction. Since 2023, Leela has collaborated with the Indian company Phool to upcycle blooms used in its hotels into richly scented incense sticks that are occasionally gifted to guests. The effort has so far transformed more than 10 tons of flowers from would-be rubbish into fragrant souvenirs. ​—Paul Brady

Cabiner

In partnership with the Dutch forestry service, Cabiner builds sleek structures in less visited stretches of nature preserve across the northern Netherlands. These off-the-grid hideaways are built sustainably from materials such as cardboard and wood, yet feature hotel-caliber beds, kitchens, bathrooms, and plant-based meal kits supplied by local markets. So far, Cabiner has two dozen hike-in cabins, which are available for out-and-back overnights or as part of a hut-to-hut circuit, with accommodations spaced from two to 12 miles apart. “The true luxury,” says cofounder Sander Ejlenberg, “is having the forest to yourself.”​ —E.G.

HBD Principe

Don’t let São Tomé and Príncipe’s compact size fool you. These Gulf of Guinea islands, which make up Africa’s second-smallest country, contain one of the world’s largest concentrations of endemism—and ecotourism plays a critical role in preserving it, particularly on less-populated Príncipe.

Nature ruled these volcanic strips of land until the Portuguese Empire arrived in the 1400s and trafficked slaves from West and Central Africa to grow sugar and cacao. The country gained independence in 1975, but decades of unemployment followed.

In 2010, South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth proposed a sustainable economic boost: responsible travel and agriculture company HBD Principe. It’s now Príncipe’s largest private employer, with four boutique resorts. Sundy Praia, situated where the ancient rain forest meets the gold-sand coast, is the most luxurious. Inland Roça Sundy pairs past and present; guests overnight in former plantation homes while residents equitably maintain an organic and Bird-Friendly certified cacao operation. Other stays include palm-fringed Bom Bom, which reopened in fall 2024 following years of renovations, and São Tomé-based Omali.

HBD Príncipe’s nonprofit, Príncipe Foundation, safeguards biodiversity, including nesting sea turtles and migrating cetaceans, and its new Natural Dividend organization will compensate residents for protecting natural resources. —Stephanie Vermillion

Companies

Journey Mexico

Founded in 2003, Journey Mexico is a B-Corp Certified luxury-travel firm that’s going out of its way to demand travelers do more for the country. Last year, the company introduced what it calls a “responsible travel fee” of $100 per person, which is tacked onto every booking. The funds are distributed to projects such as the Haciendas del Mundo Maya Foundation, which supports community-led economic development, and to the Xochimilco Agroecological Initiative, which aims to promote regenerative farming in Mexico City and beyond. “The idea was to connect travelers to these hot-spot issues,” says Zachary Rabinor, the founder and CEO of Journey Mexico and a member of the T+L A-List. He notes that while the fee can be waived on request, most guests are more than happy to contribute—and many ask to link up with supported organizations during their visits. “We’re at a key inflection point,” Rabinor says. “I see people, for the first time, really asking for this.” —H.S.

Icy Strait Point

Thirty years ago, the Huna Tlingit community on Alaska’s Inside Passage faced a crossroads: The future of extractive industries such as logging and fishing was in doubt, and the economic outlook, particularly for young job-seekers, was grim. Tourism, some community leaders proposed, offered a way forward. After years of groundwork, Icy Strait Point debuted in 2004 as the first privately owned cruise destination in Alaska. Managed by the Native-owned Huna Totem Corporation, the destination has become one of the most popular in the state, with both thoughtful programs and thrill rides. Along with elevating Native culture in the eyes of visitors, the development has revived interest in Indigenous language and traditional dance among the Tlingit community, says Russell Dick, president and CEO of Huna Totem. “We’ve built something that’s allowed future generations to express their pride in who they are and where they come from,” he notes. Up next? Partnering with other Indigenous groups in Alaska and the Caribbean. “If other people can build off us, we’ve done our job,” Dick says. —E.G.

Giving Bag

“We’re trying to create a connection between the traveler, the hotel, and the community,” says Quinn Cox, cofounder and CEO of Giving Bag, a company born of the desire to help reduce waste in hotels. In 2013, Cox and Lilia Karimi, both veterans of the hospitality industry, came up with a deceptively simple idea: Guests can leave unwanted shoes, articles of clothing, books, or whatever else they no longer need in reusable bags or receptacles provided in their rooms. Items are then donated to local aid organizations, rather than languishing in lost-and-found closets before being discarded. “A lot of those items have a useful life,” Cox says. Little wonder, then, that the idea has taken off, with Giving Bags now offered in 26 hotels across 15 countries. —H.S.

Exodus Adventure Travels

A fair number of high-end outfitters can pull off a dog-sledding adventure in Finland or a pulse-quickening hike through the Dolomites. But Exodus Adventure Travels takes trips like those to another level by inviting its guests to be not just thrill-seekers but also citizen scientists. Since 2022, the company has been outfitting its clientele with water-sampling kits that can reveal the DNA of animal species living in a given area—data that’s fed into the global biodiversity database eBioAtlas. “Customers genuinely care about the positive impact of their travels if they see it in lockstep with fantastic experiences,” says Kasia Morgan, the company’s head of sustainability. In another laudable effort, Exodus has since 2020 run the Mountain Lioness Project, in Tanzania, which has so far trained 30 women porters to work as guides on Mount Kilimanjaro. —E.G.

700’000 Heures Impact

Hotelier Thierry Teyssier thinks every one of the 700,000 hours of the average human lifespan should count—hence the name of his “regenerative tourism” company. The idea behind 700’000 Heures Impact is to create what Teyssier calls “microhospitality” projects that welcome no more than six travelers at a time, whether it’s a collection of rainforest tree houses in the Peruvian Amazon or a series of rustic-chic homestays in Oaxaca, Mexico. “You have to start small because small doesn’t break anything,” he says. That was the approach for his project in Morocco, dubbed Memory Road, which helped entrepreneurs in the Berber village of Tizkmoudine diversify their tourism-dependent economy; today money from guest stays funds agricultural development, handicrafts workshops, a kindergarten, and after-school programming for kids. “We use hospitality as the engine to further a community’s goals,” says Teyssier, who’s currently at work on a project in Rwanda. —E.G.

White Desert

Antarctica has seen a record-setting number of visitors in recent years. But for Patrick and Robyn Woodhead, the husband and wife who launched the travel outfitter White Desert in 2005, the final frontier is a familiar, if increasingly fragile, place. “From the early days, we understood that we were operating in a pristine wilderness, so it was always important to do it in a very sustainable way,” Robyn says. White Desert’s three small camps—each accommodates a maximum of 12 guests—are part of its low-impact approach, as is a commitment to using sustainable biofuel in the ski-equipped planes the company uses on its flights around the continent. In 2024, the Woodheads announced the White Desert Foundation, a U.K.-registered charity that will support scientific studies that can only be conducted in Antarctica. “We’re hoping to fast-track projects that don’t yet have funding,” Robyn says, such as an investigation involving the thousands of meteorites that dot the ice—and are at risk of sinking because of climate change. —P.B.

People

Teara Fraser

A Métis woman from Canada’s Northwest Territories, Teara Fraser never planned to become a pilot. But on an aerial tour of Botswana’s Okavango Delta in 2001, she had a revelation: She wanted to fly. “It was one of the most pivotal moments of my life,” Fraser recalls. “I returned to Canada and started flight training. A year later I had my pilot’s license.”

Fraser was working for an aerial-survey company when the 2010 Vancouver Olympics brought global attention to Canada’s First Nations peoples. She recognized that while visitors from around the world were eager to learn more about these communities, transportation to those places was limited—a significant barrier to growing tourism. “Culturally, we’re taught to do good with the knowledge and skills we’ve been blessed with,” Fraser says. So she embarked on a mission to connect travelers to the remote communities of northern and coastal British Columbia.

 Her solution was Iskwew Air, Canada’s first Indigenous-owned and woman-owned airline. Launched in 2019, Iskwew operates daily service between Vancouver International Airport and Qualicum Beach, on the northeastern coast of Vancouver Island. The airline also runs private charters to other hard-to-reach destinations in British Columbia. The name (pronounced iss-kway-yo) means “woman” in Cree, a language spoken by some Métis people; Fraser chose it to symbolize matriarchal leadership, a touchstone of Métis culture.

Since the launch, Fraser has continued to champion a more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable aviation industry: Her nonprofit, Give Them Wings, encourages Indigenous youth to explore careers in aviation, while Iskwew Air offsets its emissions by purchasing credits from the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project. In 2023, she founded Elibird Aero, a “clean aerotech” company focused on innovations such as fully electric planes. Most recently, Fraser ventured into hospitality with the opening of Liberty Wilderness Lodge, a remote sanctuary in northern B.C. that she co-owns with her husband, Trevin. 

“I always say that getting my wings gave me wings for everything else in my life,” Fraser says. “It gave me courage and inspiration, and taught me the value of hard work.” —Gina DeCaprio Vercesi

Sarah Dusek

“Can we build a business that helps save the planet?” That’s the question Sarah Dusek is asking with her latest hospitality endeavor, the six-suite Few & Far Luvhondo, in South Africa. It’s the first safari lodge for her new company, Few & Far, but it’s not Dusek’s first rodeo: She’s the founder, along with her husband, Jacob, of the glamping operator Under Canvas, which the couple sold for $100 million in 2018. Her new venture sits amid the Soutpansberg Mountains, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that’s home to wildlife including giraffes, leopards, and the endangered pangolin. An organic farm supplies the kitchen and, through the replanting of endemic flora, the project aims to eventually sequester more than 100,000 tons of carbon a year. “This is a place to immerse yourself in the wilderness and let it speak to you,” she says.​ —E.G.

Vikas Khanna

Celebrated Indian chef Vikas Khanna has written cookbooks, won Michelin accolades, and, in 2024, opened the buzzy restaurant Bungalow in New York City. But one of his greatest achievements had nothing to do with high-end dining. Soon after the pandemic began—while “things were falling apart,” as he puts it—Khanna set his mind to getting meals to families in need across his home country, a project he dubbed Feed India. “It started so small,” says Khanna, who was directing deliveries and fund-raising remotely from New York. “By the time I had to slow down to open Bungalow, which was my sister Radhika’s dream project, we’d delivered 84 million meals.” Though his sister died after a long illness in 2022, he opened the restaurant on the day that would have been her 50th birthday. “The greatest works of art have always come from broken hearts.”​ — H.S.

Products

Exped

Last year, Swiss outdoor brand Exped set an ambitious target to rid its products of PFAS, the human-made “forever chemicals” commonly used to make materials stain- and water-repellent. But leaders at the company determined that goal was unachievable because of how ubiquitous those substances have become. So instead, they opted for radical transparency: New Exped gear comes with a disclaimer stating that “it cannot be completely ruled out that a product may contain traces of these chemicals.” At the same time, the brand’s up-for-anything backpacks, sleeping bags, and camping gear do come with green cred: The fabrics, buckles, and zippers are certified by either Bluesign or Oeko-Tex, which set environmental-impact standards. Then there’s the company’s own ethos, which is all about encouraging consumers to buy less, says Ted Steudel, president of Exped USA. “Our goal is to put out a product that lasts a long time,” he explains. “We’re not fast fashion.” —E.G.

Oway USA

“A post-plastic world is what we’re after,” says Sharon Nykaza, managing director of Oway USA. Launched in 2000, the chic beauty brand is part of a family-owned company that dates back to 1948; it still sources many ingredients from its own biodynamic farm near Bologna, Italy. To cut out difficult-to-recycle waste, Oway began packaging its products in aluminum and glass in 2013. They can now be found in more than 450 locations in the U.S., including salons and spas. “Sometimes you have to do things that aren’t easy,” Nykaza says. “Hopefully, a couple decades from now, more companies will be doing this.” —H.S.

BioLite

Gear maker BioLite specializes in whiz-bang camping stoves, including one model that can harness fire to generate electricity, as well as string lamps and lanterns built for the outdoors. That recreational equipment helps support the company’s bigger mission: to distribute low-cost, fuel-efficient stoves and solar-and-battery power systems to people across Africa who might not otherwise be able to afford them. “We’ve built a company around solving issues of energy access,” says Jonathan Cedar, cofounder and CEO. He’s quick to point out that BioLite isn’t a charity, but rather a social enterprise. “Our recreation market gives us the stability to solve these longer-term problems.” —E.G.

Citizen

As the first mainstream watches to be powered exclusively by light, Eco-Drive timepieces from Citizen were something of a revolution when they launched in 1976. The brand took another leap forward in the 1990s, when innovations in solar technology allowed for Eco-Drive watches with a sleek, high-end look. Today, around 85 percent of the company’s lineup is solar powered, including signature pieces like the new 37mm Promaster Dive. That’s helped eliminate the need for disposable button-cell batteries, says Susan Chandler, a Citizen executive. “We are not putting batteries in landfills, and that is an important cornerstone of our brand,” she notes. Another way Citizen is investing in renewables? As a member of the philanthropic group 1% for the Planet, the brand funds the work of Everybody Solar, an organization that helps nonprofits install clean energy systems. —H.S. 

Port Ellen

Scotch has seen its popularity rise and fall, and in 1983, during one particularly fallow period, Port Ellen, a distillery on Scotland’s Isle of Islay, closed its doors. The brand had been mainly used in blends, and whisky lovers didn’t consider its single malts to be worthy of aging. Yet a small amount of the whisky survived, says Ewan Gunn, an executive at Diageo, the global beverage company that now owns Port Ellen, as well as brands such as Johnnie Walker and Lagavulin. “What we discovered is that, once it’s 30 or even 40 years old, it evolves into something truly spectacular,” Gunn says. That realization led the company to reimagine Port Ellen as a high-end, small-batch brand. 

Diageo also saw an opportunity to reboot distillery operations, including the installation of super-efficient cooling systems powered by green energy. And while water is essential when it comes to making scotch, the use of that resource is scrupulously monitored. “We’re constantly looking at how we can push the boundaries,” Gunn says of the facility, which reopened to the public in 2024. “Diageo is the biggest player in the industry, so it’s right that we should be leading the way whenever we can.” As for how these cutting-edge techniques enhance the whisky, only time will tell. —H.S. 

Nonprofits

Sandals Foundation

The Sandals Foundation has been working across the Caribbean since 2009 but, in recent years, has stepped up its impact. The brainchild of the resort brand’s executive chairman, Adam Stewart, the foundation has funded philanthropic projects on nine islands. These range from coral restoration in Jamaica to water catchments for schools in Grenada and marine conservation education in

Antigua—and even seemingly small gestures that can have a big impact, like supplying technology to an elementary school in the Bahamas. “We look at where there are gaps,” says Heidi Clarke, the foundation’s executive director. Guests of both Sandals and Beaches resorts can visit many of the projects. In fact, Clarke says, “our guests are our biggest donors, and we are super grateful to them.” —H.S.

Tour Operators for Tigers

Since 2006, the number of Bengal tigers in India has more than doubled, from 1,411 to 3,167, according to the nonprofit Tour Operators for Tigers. Amplifying the work of India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority, this organization works to certify eco-conscious accommodations, educate guides, and engage with local communities to support conservation in more than two dozen areas, including some national parks, to help these charismatic animals thrive. The group, which in addition to tour operators counts lodges and travel advisors among its members, also sets sustainability standards that are meant to encourage water conservation, waste reduction, and energy efficiency. “The tiger is at the top of the ecosystem,” says Ritu Makhija, the group’s director of sustainability. “If the tiger is taken care of, then the entire forest regenerates.” —E.G.

Ikigai

“When people walk in to a restaurant, they want to know the chef, to know there are good people involved and good things happening,” says Dan Soha, owner of the 12-seat Ikigai, which opened in Brooklyn last July. Chef Rafal Maslankiewicz creates avant-garde kaiseki dinners; the 12- or 15-course menus feature dishes such as Hokkaido sea-urchin toast with husk-cherry jam and a quail egg. But it’s the business model of Ikigai that’s most impressive: After accounting for staff wages and operational costs, Soha, who doesn’t take a salary, diverts earnings to Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, a national nonprofit that works to distribute prepared meals and groceries to those in need. What’s more, Soha owns the building in which the restaurant is located, meaning Ikigai is likely there to stay. “This restaurant gives me a purpose every morning,” Soha says. —H.S. 

Tompkins Conservation

Kristine McDivitt Tompkins has been focused on the work of conservation since she retired from the brand Patagonia in 1993—the same year rewilding was added to the dictionary. Together with her late husband, Doug Tompkins, she cofounded the influential organization Tompkins Conservation, which has over the decades helped develop a network of enormous national parks in Chile and Argentina—and spurred similar efforts around the world. “We have all these projects going now, and I’m really the godmother of them,” Tompkins says. “I don’t have to change the oil in the trucks anymore.” 

That work took a major leap forward in 2017, when Tompkins and Chile’s then-president Michelle Bachelet negotiated a deal to expand, by 10 million acres, the amount of land protected from development in that country. Today, the organization’s locally led nonprofits, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, are safeguarding even more territory. The former is at work on a coastal protection project, Patagonia Azul, on the shores of Chubut Province, Argentina, where dolphins, seals, and whales congregate. Meanwhle, Rewilding Chile is creating the first national park at the very bottom of the continent. Cape Froward, as it’s known, is situated along the Strait of Magellan, southwest of Punta Arenas, and is a critical habitat for pumas and endangered huemul deer. Says Tompkins: “That’s a big one, and it’s all hands on deck.” —P.B.

Long Run

In 2009, Jochen Zeitz, then-CEO of the sportswear brand Puma and the creator of the Kenyan safari camp Segera, brought together nine like-minded lodges to create what he called the Long Run. The goal was to share not only best practices but also, critically, well-intentioned failures, so that the group could learn together. Today the collective has more than 70 members who are working to advance what they call the Four Cs: conservation, community, culture, and commerce. One recent achievement is the creation of the Fund for Female Guides, by the tour operator Steppes Travel, which aims to improve gender parity in the profession. Another is the development of a permaculture farm by the Indonesian resort Nikoi Private Island, which was inspired by the work of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve (a past Global Vision Award winner). In total, members are active across more than 21 million acres of biodiverse landscapes, in the African bush, on the coast of New Zealand, and in the mountains of northwestern Argentina, to name just a few. “Sustainability is a journey, not a sprint,” says Anne-Kathrin Zschiegner, the group’s executive director. “It’s not about what we do in a year or three but in the next 20 or 50.” —E.G.

The 2025 Global Vision Awards Panel

The following experts assisted in the compilation of this year’s list. Panelists were prohibited from submitting their own projects. The editors of Travel + Leisure made the final determination of winners.

Susmita Baral, Senior Editor, T+L 

Paul Brady, News Director, T+L

Elizabeth Cantrell, Senior Editor, T+L

Nina Caplan, Contributor, T+L

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi, Contributor, T+L

Elaine Glusac, Contributor, T+L

Sean Ingles, General Manager, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve

Ray Isle, Executive Wine Editor, Food & Wine

Denny Lee, Articles Editor, T+L

Venetia Martin, Managing Director, Journeys with Purpose

Beks Ndlovu, Founder & CEO, African Bush Camps

Jen Salerno Yong, Contributor, T+L

Skye Senterfeit, Deputy Photo Editor, T+L

Flora Stubbs, Executive Editor, T+L

Nardia Sullivan, Head of Sustainable Travel, Wild Frontiers