The second one version of the TOURISE Awards is formally underway, with locations around the globe invited to compete throughout six classes celebrating excellence in tradition, journey, gastronomy, buying groceries, leisure and wellness.
As international locations compete for travellers increasingly more searching for significant, top of the range and noteworthy reports, the TOURISE Awards 2027 have opened nominations to spot the puts environment new requirements for the way forward for tourism.
Now getting into their 2d cycle, the TOURISE Awards recognise locations turning in functional and unforgettable customer reports whilst demonstrating innovation, sustainability, cultural preservation and sure customer have an effect on. The programme in the long run culminates within the flagship Perfect Total Vacation spot award, recognising an impressive vacation spot able to turning in excellence throughout a couple of sides of the customer adventure.
Nominations opened on 1 September and can stay open till 19 November 2026, giving travellers, tourism execs, vacation spot organisations and different trade stakeholders the chance to place ahead locations they imagine are serving to form the following generation of world trip. Everybody can nominate, together with particular person travellers, trade execs, locations and organisations.
The six TOURISE Awards 2027 classes are:
* Perfect Arts & Tradition Vacation spot
* Perfect Journey Vacation spot
* Perfect Meals & Culinary Vacation spot
* Perfect Buying groceries Vacation spot
* Perfect Leisure Vacation spot
* Perfect Wellness Vacation spot – new for 2027
The addition of wellness displays one of the important tendencies inside of recent tourism, recognising locations that experience effectively evolved restorative trip reports encompassing spaces comparable to spa retreats, therapeutic practices and holistic wellness. Somewhere else, the awards read about the entirety from world-class cultural establishments and unique culinary cultures to outside adventures, retail districts, marketplaces, nightlife, carrying occasions and leisure sights.
In combination, the kinds reveal simply how wide the trendy vacation spot ride has grow to be. Travellers are now not essentially opting for a town, area or hotel house merely as a result of its conventional sights. Meals, wellbeing, tradition, retail, leisure and get right of entry to to nature can increasingly more grow to be destination-defining causes to trip in their very own proper.
For tourism government, this evolution additionally supplies alternatives to construct more potent world identities round specific strengths, doubtlessly encouraging longer remains, attracting new customer segments, stimulating funding and spreading tourism expenditure throughout a much wider vary of native companies and communities.
Atmosphere a brand new benchmark for vacation spot excellence
The size of the inaugural programme supplies a sign of TOURISE’s ambitions. The 2025 awards attracted greater than 1,000 eligible nominations from each and every area of the sector, with profitable locations representing 4 continents.
His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia and Chairman of TOURISE, describes the awards as a part of a broader effort to spot locations converting the best way tourism is evolved.
He stated the awards recognise locations of various sizes and phases of building, together with established and rising tourism markets, whilst striking specific emphasis on reports offering “unique, significant, and lasting price” for travellers and native communities.
The 2027 programme could also be designed to head past reputation by myself.
Eligible locations will have to have an outlined geographical scope, comparable to a town, area or web site; reveal a robust and unique identification; supply a compelling customer ride; and be supported by way of a governing or tourism authority.
Locations will then be tested throughout 14 evaluation standards, together with authenticity, accessibility, protection, sustainability and customer ride. Judges will imagine each what makes an entrant specifically sturdy inside of its nominated class and the common requirements anticipated of an impressive tourism vacation spot.
Unbiased international jury
A vital part of the TOURISE Awards is its impartial judging construction.
The world jury brings in combination senior figures from tourism, hospitality, gastronomy, model, arts, tradition, wellbeing and journey. Individuals come with Albert Learn, former Managing Director of Condé Nast; Filip Boyen, former CEO of Forbes Go back and forth Information; Bernold Schroeder, former CEO of Kempinski Resorts; and Fiona Jeffery OBE, former Chair of International Go back and forth Marketplace and Tourism for The following day.
They’re joined by way of Michael Ellis, former World Director of Michelin Guides; mountaineer, polar explorer and UN Goodwill Ambassador Omar Samra; former Givenchy CEO Renaud de Lesquen; Tate Trendy founding director Lars Nittve; former British Model Council CEO Caroline Rush; and previous Accor Resorts Vice President of World Smartly Being Andrew Gibson.
Albert Learn, Jury Panel Chair, stated the rigour of the awards procedure and calibre of its judges had established a robust benchmark for recognising management inside of international trip. Taking a look against the second one cycle, he highlighted a chance now not best to spot remarkable locations however sooner or later to trace their building and long-term tourism have an effect on.
Following the general public nomination duration, shortlisted locations can be assessed by way of the jury sooner than one winner and two prominent finalists are decided on inside of every class. Locations can be nominated in a couple of classes, which means a phenomenal tourism vacation spot could seem on a couple of shortlist.
Highway to Riyadh
As soon as nominations shut on 19 November 2026, the TOURISE Awards shortlist can be introduced on 7 January 2027, adopted by way of the finalists on 28 February.
Consideration will then flip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the place the winners can be published on the TOURISE Awards Rite on 23 March 2027, held along the TOURISE Summit. The development will carry in combination vacation spot representatives with main figures from trip, funding, tradition and era sooner than culminating within the presentation of the Perfect Total Vacation spot award.
The awards shape a part of TOURISE’s wider year-round platform connecting governments, buyers, tourism organisations and era leaders round innovation and the longer term building of the worldwide customer economic system.
With world tourism proceeding to conform round converting traveller expectancies, sustainability, era and increasingly more experience-led determination making, the TOURISE Awards 2027 supply locations with a world platform on which to reveal what makes them unique.
For the locations themselves, reputation may lengthen way past receiving a trophy. It gives a chance to put their tradition, delicacies, landscapes, wellness credentials, retail environments or leisure ecosystems sooner than a global tourism target audience — whilst demonstrating how the ones belongings are being reworked into compelling customer reports and sustainable financial alternative.
Nominations for the TOURISE Awards 2027 stay open till 19 November 2026, with the awards rite happening in Riyadh on 23 March 2027.
