(Posted 24th June 2026)
The African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA®) has announced the
winners of the 2026 ATTA® for Action Awards at the close of the first day of Experience Africa, the UK’s
largest travel trade event dedicated to promoting tourism to Africa.
Now in their third year, the awards recognise outstanding organisations and individuals driving positive
environmental, social and economic impact across Africa’s tourism sector and received more than 100
entries across ten categories.
Each winner received a trophy handcrafted by the FlipFlopi Project – an East African movement
dedicated to ending single-use plastic pollution through community-led circular economies. Makers of
the world’s first recycled plastic sailing dhow, the FlipFlopi Project embodies the values these awards
exist to celebrate. The trophies were revealed for the first time on the night.
2026 ATTA® for Action Awards Winners
– ATTA® Purpose & People Award — TAMàNA (Madagascar)
– ATTA® Earthkeepers Award — Gamewatchers Safaris (Kenya)
– ATTA® Eco-Innovation Award — Porini Safari Camps, Gamewatchers Safaris (Kenya)
– ATTA® Zero Waste Trailblazer Award — Sirikoi Lodge (Kenya)
– ATTA® Community Upliftment Award — Nomad Tanzania (Tanzania)
– ATTA® Marine Impact Award — andBeyond (South Africa)
– ATTA® Collaborative Impact Award — The Safari Collection (Kenya)
– ATTA® Traveller Education and Awareness Award — Blood Lions and Marine Dynamics (South
Africa) (joint winners)
– ATTA® Media Voice for Action Award — Marco Barneveld, Wide Oyster Media (Netherlands)
– ATTA® Emerging Changemaker Award — Travel4Purpose (Kenya)
Each award category was assessed against rigorous criteria designed to identify organisations
delivering measurable impact. From ethical wildlife experiences and marine conservation initiatives to
community empowerment programmes, circular economy innovations and traveller education
campaigns, the awards recognise leadership that goes beyond aspiration and demonstrates tangible
outcomes.
The joint award in the Traveller Education and Awareness category – shared by Blood Lions and Marine
Dynamics – was a direct reflection of the quality of entries. The judges recognised the two
organisations as excelling in distinct but equally vital dimensions of the same challenge: one for
advocacy and policy change, the other for direct traveller engagement and measurable conservation
outcomes.
This year also marks the first time in the awards’ history that a single organisation has won across two
categories in the same year. Gamewatchers Safaris and their Porini Safari Camps claimed both the
Earthkeepers and Eco-Innovation Awards – a result that speaks to the depth and consistency of a
conservation model nearly three decades in the making. In 2024, the inaugural year of the awards, they
were recognised for their collaborative approach. TAMàNA, meanwhile, returns as a multi-year winner,
claiming the Eco-Innovation Award in 2025 and, this year, recognised for heritage tourism leadership in
an entirely different category. Marine Dynamics similarly becomes a two-time winner across the
awards’ history, previously recognised for marine conservation and this year for traveller education – a
testament to the breadth of their work.
Virginia Messina, Group CEO of ATTA®, said: ‘The ATTA® for Action Awards exist to celebrate the
organisations and individuals proving that tourism can be one of Africa’s most powerful forces for positive
change. Across the continent, we continue to see extraordinary leadership in conservation, community
empowerment, cultural preservation and environmental innovation. In many ways, African tourism
businesses have been pioneering responsible tourism practices for decades, often developing solutions that
the wider global industry is only now beginning to embrace.
As an association, we will continue to champion evidence-based responsible tourism, showcase innovation
from across Africa, and provide our members with the knowledge, tools and inspiration they need to thrive
in a rapidly changing landscape. The future of African tourism depends on protecting the very people,
places and wildlife that make the continent so extraordinary, and these winners are showing what that
future can look like‘.
The ATTA® for Action Awards form part of ATTA®’s broader commitment to advancing responsible
tourism across Africa and supporting members in creating measurable, positive impact for people,
places and the planet.
For a full list of winners and finalists, visit: https://awards.atta.travel/winners-finalists-2026/
