2026 Skift IDEA Awards: Meet the Finalists

Skift Take The 2026 Skift IDEA Awards finalists reflect a focus on creativity, ingenuity, and innovation. These companies reflect the brightest future of travel. The eighth-annual Skift IDEA Awards honor those who are driving change and innovation across the travel industry. Today, we announce the 2026 Skift IDEA Awards finalists. More than 490 entries were submitted from around the world this year, signalling that the IDEA Awards remain a powerful industry metric for measuring innovation, creativity, and impact across travel. This year’s program was organized around seven criteria groups: Industry Innovators: Forward-thinking projects that drive a sector forward and make an impact with consumers. Change Makers: Organizations elevating the travel industry’s role as a force for good by affecting meaningful change. Creative Thinkers: Marketing, strategy and technology that inspires and pushes the industry forward. Problem Solvers: Service providers who offer solutions, address business challenges, or use technology to guide the industry. Travel Technology: Technology providers offering innovative technological solutions that are guiding the industry forward. Short-Term Rentals: Recognizing the individuals and organizations that are shaping the future of the short-term rental industry. Presented by Skift Meetings: Meetings & Events: Celebrating the business events industry’s most respected and innovative suppliers. These entries reflect the commitment to bold, purpose-driven work that is at the core of those travel leaders who are pushing the industry forward. Stay tuned to discover the winners, chosen by our independent panel of industry-leading expert judges, announced August 26th. See the full list of 2026 Skift IDEA Awards finalists below: INDUSTRY INNOVATORS Activities & Attractions Heritage Corridor Destinations | The Landing Pad Airlines & Airports Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) | BLR Pulse: Pioneering the Future of Airport Loyalty Through Payment-Embedded Innovation Lufthansa Innovation Hub | Globility Transfer Hub — Reimagining the Airline Passenger’s Last Mile Massachusetts Port Authority | Logan Airport Remote Terminal at Framingham Saudia | The Coolest Ihram Tangerine & Buzz | Tangerine x Buzz: Airline Soft Product Collection Tradewind Aviation | Tradewind Aviation: Making Regional Travel Personal Virgin Australia | Virgin Australia: Redefining flight search through conversational AI Business Travel American Express Global Business Travel | Hotel Lobby: Re-inventing the way corporate buyers source hotels. Fragomen Nomadic | Nomadic: Powering the Future of Business Travel with Cross-Border Compliance Holafly | Holafly for Business: Redefining Global Connection for the Future-Forward Enterprise HRS | HRS Copilot – An AI-Powered Assistant for Superior Corporate Travel Mgmt Oversee | The AI optimization layer powering the future of managed travel Perk | Built In, Not Bolted On: How Perk Re-Engineered Business Travel for the AI Era SAP Concur and Amex GBT | Complete by SAP Concur and Amex GBT: Redefining the Future of Business Travel & Expense Hospitality Evermore Orlando Resort | Relational Wellness: Redefining Luxury as the Ability to Come Together Marriott International | Outdoor Collection by Marriott Bonvoy: At Home In The Wild Marriott International | Marriott: Transforming Hospitality Loyalty Upgrades via Complimentary Upgrade Engine Marriott Waikiki Collection | Mai Tais and Burgers: A Scalable Model for Embedded Hospitality Philanthropy Miraval Resorts & Spas | Miraval Resorts & Spas and Humin Set New Standard for the Future of Measurable Wellness The Social Hub | The Social Hub, Rome The Venetian Resort Las Vegas | Reinventing the Megaresort: How The Venetian Resort Las Vegas Is Creating the Future of Luxury Hospitality Without Building New Virgin Hotels Collection | Virgin Hotels Collection Blueprint for Purposeful Travel Tour Operators Butterfield & Robinson | Multi-Gen Legacy Intrepid Travel | Decolonizing Internal Philanthropy and Focusing on Trust-Based Giving Italian Fix | Travel Italy Beautifully Jacada Travel | Creating the Blueprint for Collaborative, Scalable Positive Impact Luxury Tourism Tourism Alphabet Creative | KATE HR Advisor Discover Puerto Rico | The Plena Game Report: Bringing Puerto Rican culture to life during the Super Bowl Evaneos | Indonesia360: Combining AI and Local Expertise to Redesign Tourism in Indonesia Ljubljana Tourism | LUV Fest: How a DMO Turned Its Quietest Months Into Its Most Loved Festival Saudia | The Coolest Ihram Tomahawk | By the people, for the people – a living brand Tourism Kamloops | Tourism Kamloops: Freeride Ain’t Free WeatherPromise | Giving people confidence to travel in shoulder season CHANGE MAKERS DEI Champion ATPCO | Maya Adams: Making ATPCO Stronger through Diversity Fora | Embedding Inclusion Into Every Trip Travel Guard | Redefining Inclusive Travel Support Leadership Banyan Group | Claire Chiang: Weaving Craft, Conscience, and Community into the Fabric of Global Hospitality FIVE Holdings | Building the World’s Most Ambitious Lifestyle Universe Hapi | Luis Segredo: The Leader Behind Hospitality’s Connected Future Ljubljana Tourism | Petra Stušek: Making Ljubljana a Global Reference for Regenerative City Tourism Nomadic Expeditions | Jalsa Urubshurow – Shaping Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Preservation in Mongolia The Social Hub | Charlie MacGregor, The Social Hub Visit Fort Worth | Bob Jameson: Leaving a Legacy on Fort Worth Amigo Tours | Yaxunah: Reviving Heritage Through Community Tourism Banyan Group | Banyan Tree Gallery: 30 Years of Hotel Retail as a Force for Community Good Experience Kissimmee | Experience Kissimmee: A Celebration of Latin Culinary Heritage Huna Totem Corporation | Huna Totem Corporation: Community-centric, culture-driven Iberostar Group | Iberostar Destination Stewardship: Protecting Nature, Empowering Communities Intrepid Travel | Intrepid Travel: Tourism as a powerful form of reconciliation Ljubljana Tourism | Because of Us, Ljubljana Is… Co-creating Tourism with Residents Rising Star Bloom | The Contrarian Bet: Owning the Guest in an OTA-First Country Furnished Finder | Camila Narino: Shaping the Future of Travel-Adjacent Housing and Workforce Mobility Miles | Leading Travel Brands Into the AI Era: Justin Gibbs, Director of Strategy & Insights at Miles Partnership Miles Partnership | A Passion for Accessibility: August Erickson, Director of Development Services, Miles Partnership SkyTeam | Yuliia Gelion: Shaping the Future of Aviation Sustainability Sustainability Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort | Hospitality Without Compromise: How One Independent Resort Is Redefining Sustainable Tourism Havila Voyages | Havila Voyages: Reshaping the Future of Travel Huna Totem Corporation | Icy Strait Point: A sustainable cruise destination Intrepid Travel | From Offsets to Impact MSC Cruises | MSC Cruises x ORCA: A New Model for Responsible Wildlife Tourism National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions | National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions & Happywhale: Transforming Travelers into Field Researchers and Agents of Change Nayara Resorts | Nayara Bocas del Toro: Coral Reef Habitat Restoration Ted Turner Reserves | Ted Turner Reserves: A Lasting Legacy of Conservation & Hospitality Trailblazer Award: Women Shaping the Future of Travel Destination Canada | Canada, Naturally: Gloria Loree Shaping the Future of Regenerative, Community‑Powered Travel Fora | Henley Vazquez: Reimagining How Travel Is Planned, Booked, and Experienced at Fora Global Travel Collection, a division of Internova Travel Group | Built for the Best: Angie Licea, Uniting a $2.4 Billion Luxury Network Under One Identity Intrepid Travel | Zina Bencheikh: Building the Industry Women Deserve Jacada Travel | Natalie Lyall-Grant: shifting positive impact tourism from performative pledges to collaborative action Sandals Foundation | Heidi Clarke: Building the Future of Travel Through Purpose, People and Place Satopia Group | Emma Ponsonby — Redefining Luxury Travel Through Purpose, Storytelling, and Philanthropy The Travel Technology Association | Laura Chadwick: Female leadership shaping the future of travel technology CREATIVE THINKERS Content Expedia Group Advertising – E Studio | Expedia & Jamaica – Eats & Beats Expedia Group Advertising – E Studio | Expedia & Saudi Arabia – Beyond The Frame Experience Kissimmee x Atlas Obscura | Kissimmee, Savored — Not Scrolled Global Travel Collection, Internova Travel Group | Extra Mile Club: A Travel Advisor Story Worth Watching Ibis | The Go Getters: How ibis Reinvented Hospitality Marketing Through the World’s First Social Miniseries by a Global Economy Hotel Brand Singapore Tourism Board | Aunties, Not Algorithms: Disrupting the Broken Modern Dating Ecosystem to Drive Tourism to Singapore Tourisme Montréal | Stretch your dollar further in Montréal Travel Alberta | Anti-Algorithm Artwork: How Vanishing Portraits on a Frozen Lake Ignited Viral Awareness of a Hidden Gem Destination Creative Design Seidat | Reimagining The Sales Presentation Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association | Sullivan Catskills: The Power of “&” Sullivan County Visitors Association Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association | Sullivan Catskills: Designing a Journey, Not Just a Website Sullivan County Visitors Association Virgin Australia | Virgin Australia: Designed around the guest, not the system Visit Austin | VisitAustin.org: A Website Built for What’s Next Marketing Civitatis | Civitatis: Travel is human Delta Air Lines | Delta’s ‘Centennial Cheer’ Campaign Combats Travel Stress with Kindness Story9 | “The Big Summer Kick Off” – Singapore Airlines & South Australian Tourism Commission with Harlequins Rugby The St. Joe Company | NoFlo: Introducing cold NYC to the hottest new neighborhood Tourism Fiji | Loloma Hour – Happy Hour for the Environment Tourisme Montréal | Next Season in Montréal Visit Baltimore | The B-Side of Baltimore Visit KC | For the World. From the Heart. | Building Kansas City’s World Cup Momentum Physical Experiences Evermore Orlando Resort | Evermore Orlando Resort: The Future of Luxury Travel Is Together Hong Kong Tourism Board | Hong Kong Halloween – Dress Up! Show Up! Guesty | The Host of Hosts: How Guesty Built the Event the STR Industry Didn’t Know It Deserved MGME | 6sense Breakthrough 2025: Reimagining the Modern User Conference Mews | Mews Unfold 2026 – The forum for hospitality innovation Pullman Hotels & Resorts | Pullman xChange: Transforming Hotels into Living Platforms for Exchange Tripadvisor | Abu Dhabi is Calling Visit Austin | Gateway to Austin: The Austin Visitor Center PROBLEM SOLVERS Business Outcomes Cresta | The Human Touch Is the Competitive Advantage: How Cresta Transforms Every Traveler Conversation Criteo | Criteo Tourism Intelligence: From Ads to Bookings Destination Canada | Aurora Traveller Twin: Transforming Canada’s Trusted Tourism Intelligence into Everyday Business Decisions Duetto | Duetto: Defining the next era of revenue management with the RP-OS RateHawk | RateHawk API: Enhancing travel connectivity Rokt | From Confirmation Page to Profit Engine: How Rokt Brain Transformed Travel Commerce Wenrix | Wenrix DeepFlow: Transforming the economics of travel servicing Wex Inc. | Modern Travel Retailing Communications Abode Worldwide | From Visibility to Value: PR That Grows B2B Hospitality and Property Tech Brands Mileslink | Turning Travel Noise Into Signal PC Public Relations | Allies Against Invisibility: PR and Travel Writers in the Age of AI Discovery Visit Greenland | Visit Greenland: Tourism on Kalaallit Nunaat’s terms Data Provider 3Victors | 3Victors: Solving for Airline Retailing’s Data Quality Challenge AirDNA | AirDNA: The Global Standard for Short-Term Rental Market Intelligence, Built on a Decade of Data Beyond | Beyond’s Neyoba Everywhere: Short-Term Rental Intelligence, Unlocked HotStats, a Duetto company | HotStats: The Performance Data the Industry Relies On Onyx CenterSource | OnyxInsights: Redefining Hospitality Intelligence RateGain Travel Technologies | Navigator: From Data Overload to Commercial Clarity Zartico, Inc. | Zartico Event Pulse: From Manual Guesswork to AI-Powered Proof TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY Best Use of AI Claiva | The world’s smartest travel pricing intelligence, for customers Fetcherr | Fetcherr: Turning Market Complexity into Measurable Profit Growth Hospitable | Hospitable: Building the AI Operating Layer for Short-Term Rentals Through the Industry’s First MCP Server Mirai | Mirai AI Infrastructure: Powering conversational and agentic direct distribution Operto | The AI That Fights Predatory OTAs Oversee | The AI optimization layer powering the future of managed travel ROH | ROH: The AI Control Layer Built for Hotel Finance SAP Concur | SAP Concur: Bringing Agentic AI to Travel and Expense Management with Joule Operational Streamlining Bloom | BRIDGE – Powering Operational Excellence Across Bloom Hotels DerbySoft | AI Voice Agent: Automating High-Volume, Outbound Calls Guesty | Guesty: the engine inside, with whole categories of work already done Hotel Trader | Supplier Launchpad – An industry-first platform for rapid supplier onboarding Moder | Moder: One Operating System for the Experience-Driven Resort Trippz | Trippz Location Tax API: The Tourist-Tax Engine for Travel Platforms Wenrix | Wenrix DeepFlow: Moving Travel Servicing from Cost Centre to Competitive Edge Sustainability Tech Archer Aviation | Archer Aviation’s All-Electric Midnight Aircraft BeCause | Travel’s Live Sustainability Data Hub – Making Sustainability Pay Off at the Point of Booking Hubli | Hubli Launches AI Where To Meet Forecast Engine Travalyst | The Data Hub – unlocking sustainability data at scale Traveler Journey Allgäu-Walser-Service GmbH | Allgäu-Walser-Pass: One code to rule them all! Aven Hospitality | Aven Hospitality Booking Engine: Redefining Direct Booking for the Modern Traveler ExpectMe | Making Room Selection the Next Standard in Hospitality FlightPath3D | Reimagining The Passenger Journey MySunbed | Redefining the premium beach booking journey point.me | Turning Everyday Points into Bookable Travel Qunar | Qunar Voice to Value (V2V): A Two-Layer Traveler Experience Attribution System Trip.com | Reimagining the End-to-End Traveller Journey with Trip.com From Inspiration to In-Destination Confidence Workforce Efficiency Fora | Fora, the modern travel agency enabling advisors to sell billions in travel Strawberry Hotels | Redefining Nordic Loyalty for the Next Generation Tern | The Capacity Multiplier for Travel Advisors TourConnect AI | Redefining the role of the DMC Consultant with Agentic AI WestJet | WestJet Rewards leverages GRAVTY® during a critical conversion to create efficiency, flexibility, Loyalty Teams Through Configurability and Continuous Innovation SHORT-TERM RENTALS Best Properties Moving Mountains | Over the Edge by Moving Mountains: Steamboat’s Ultimate Ski-In/Ski-Out Estate Red Cottage | Red Cottage: A Best-in-Class Collection of Design-Driven Vacation Homes WIMCO St. Barth Properties – Nocturne Luxury Villas Collection | Omai Zile: An Ultra-Luxury Caribbean Retreat Designed Around the Guest Guest Experience Abode Luxury Rentals | The Three Commitments and The Recovery Paradox Enso Connect | Scaling Superhost Ratings and Revenue: The Boarding Pass to Exceptional Hospitality Red Cottage | Red Cottage: Turning Vacation Rental Membership Into a True Hospitality Relationship Rental Escapes | Redefining Luxury Villa Travel Through Expertise, Access, and Service Property Management Boom | The AI Operating System for Short Term Rentals Guesty | Built by Listening. Proven by Growth. Hostaway | The AI-powered property management platform Killington Mountain Homes | The 4.94 Advantage :The Excellence Pays Operating System Landing | Redefining Hospitality’s Third Option Pikl | Insurance-enabled revenue growth platform for the short-term rental market Propr | Building the Future of Short-Term Rental Property Management MEETINGS & EVENTS, PRESENTED BY SKIFT MEETINGS Cruise Lines Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings | Transforming the Way the World Meets at Sea: Three Brands. Endless Possibilities Royal Caribbean | The ultimate event destination Transcend Cruises | Transcend Cruises: Redefining Corporate Meetings & Events on Europe’s Waterways Destination Marketing Organizations Discover The Palm Beaches | The Palm Beaches Collection: Between-The-Sessions Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau | Greater Miami: A Future-Ready Global Destination for Business Events Vienna Tourist Board | Vienna: Setting the Global Standard for Meeting Destination Excellence Visit Austin | Meet More Austin: Selling the Now and Next of Austin Visit Baltimore | Visit Baltimore: Where Culture Drives Meetings Visit Newport Beach | Visit Newport Beach Makes a Splash in London with “The Art of Leisure” Visit Reno Tahoe | Reno Tahoe: A Meetings Destination on the Rise Event Technology Bishop-McCann | The JOY Index™: Making Joy Measurable Encore | Event Solutions Explorer: A New Way to Discover and Design Events ENGAGE Business Events | Happy Sites: Putting the Right Tools in Every Event Planner’s Hands Hire Space | Deep Venue Research: the AI that finds the right venue, at a price you can act on, anywhere in the world, in seconds hivr.ai | hivr.ai: The AI Sales Engine that Runs Hotel Meetings & Group Business PRO SKY | Event Air Travel, Reimagined RainFocus | RainFocus Nexus: aAgentic AI for Personalized Events Zoho Backstage | Scaling events without scaling teams: The Zoho on Zoho Story Hotels Conrad Orlando at Evermore | Conrad Orlando at Evermore: Setting a New Standard in Meetings and Events Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center | Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center: Making Moments Together Extraordinary Royalton Hotels & Resorts | Royalton Riviera Cancun Sandals Resorts | Sandals Dunn’s River theWit Chicago, A Hilton Hotel | theWit Chicago: The Experience is the Agenda Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | Dolce by Wyndham Versailles, Domaine du Montcel: A Meetings‑First Destination Near Paris Venues & Convention Centers ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi | A Convention Campus Built for Scale Dubai Exhibition Centre – Dubai World Trade Centre | Redefining Global Events Excel London | Excel London’s Biggest and Best Year Yet Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau | Miami Beach Convention Center: A Reimagined Convention Campus Javits Center | Javits on the Hudson: The Next Generation Convention Center New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center | Blending Sustainability and Functionality into New Orleans’ Economy Sandals Resorts | Louis Grant Conference Center Visit Reno Tahoe’s Reno-Sparks Convention Center | Reno-Sparks Convention Center: Built for Everything To learn how to get your ideas in front of the industry, find out more about the Skift IDEA Awards here.