Tickets are now open for the 2025 Travel Unity Awards Dinner
Join us for an inspiring evening celebrating the champions who are making travel more inclusive and welcoming for everyone.
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Travel Unity celebrates the work of groundbreaking organizations and individuals who are passionate about inclusion in travel.
The 2025 Travel Unity Award categories are:
- Inclusion Champion
- The 2025 Inclusion Champion will be decided by popular vote.
- Community Impact
- Judges: Sonya Bradley, Stephanie Sheehy (2024 Community Impact Award winner), and Sven Wiltink
- Outstanding Academic Research
- Judges: Dr. Edwin Gómez and Dr. Juan Madera (2024 Outstanding Academic Research Award winner)
- Outstanding Organizational Initiative
- Judges: Josh Heinz, Romey Louangvilay, Shayna Walker
- Young Professional
- Judges: Noor Ahmad Hamid, Dona Regis-Prosper, Diego Rendon (2024 Youth Award winner)
Meet the Finalists
Inclusion Champion
OCVA has strategically built a network of local stakeholders committed to making the Oregon Coast accessible for all visitors, partnering with organizations like Travelability and Wheel the World. Their collaborative approach prioritizes listening to residents with lived experience, transforming “The People’s Coast” from a tourism slogan into meaningful action for inclusive outdoor access.
Oregon Coast Visitors Association
As news editor for Halal Travel Network, Shebs has championed the growth of halal tourism through impactful journalism and strategic partnerships with tourism boards. His work directly contributed to major industry wins and inspired new voices in the sector.
Shebs Alom
As CEO of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, Sherry leads the only national association dedicated to Indigenous tourism and launched the first-ever economic impact study of U.S. Indigenous tourism businesses. She was instrumental in passing the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience (NATIVE) Act and serves on multiple national boards advancing Indigenous tourism.
Sherry Rupert
For over 15 years, Allie has worked to make travel inclusive for the 33 million Americans with food allergies through her platform Miss Allergic Reactor, reaching over 60,000 travelers across multiple platforms. She combines personal expertise with professional consultation services, partnering with destinations and brands to recognize food allergies as a critical accessibility issue in travel.
Allie Bahn
As former Director of Media Relations at ATTA, Tami increased diverse media representation at international trade conferences by 32% from 2018-2024, generating 6.2 billion earned media impressions globally. Her strategic outreach to underrepresented communities and collaboration with local businesses has created sustainable pathways for inclusion across the adventure travel industry.
Tami Fairweather
As Argentina’s first Afrotourism Director, Julia has transformed the country’s tourism landscape by centering Afro-descendant heritage, leading the first Afro-Argentine heritage tour and helping develop Argentina’s first federal Afrotourism map. Her work created El Tambo Afro, the first Black entrepreneur shop in Argentina, and she is directing the first documentary about Black heroine María Remedios del Valle.
Julia Cohen Ribeiro
Jeny has transformed the lives of 375 female survivors of human trafficking by training them as certified tour guides, hospitality staff, and culinary experts through her social enterprise in Nepal. Her work has contributed to a 73% reduction in trafficking rates since 2011 by developing 10 trafficking-prone communities through homestays and alternative income sources.
Jeny Pokharel
John has served over 50,000 customers with disabilities through his three accessible travel companies and partners with 15+ cruise lines representing 87% of the industry’s accessible shore-excursion market. He authored WTTC’s Inclusive and Accessible Travel Guidelines and leads accessibility initiatives for 13 national and global travel organizations.
John Sage
Community Impact
Cory became the first person to visit all 7 continents in a powered wheelchair and has inspired thousands of wheelchair users to travel through his blog, which has reached over 5 million visitors since 2014. In 2022, he launched The Curb Free Foundation, which has provided six fully-funded dream trips to wheelchair users, covering all expenses for recipients and their companions.
Cory Lee
Through their Meaningful Travel Map platform, Tourism Cares has connected over 650 community-based organizations across 40+ destinations to the global tourism marketplace, featuring Indigenous cooperatives, women-led enterprises, and social ventures. The platform has generated increased visibility and income for local changemakers, demonstrated through success stories like Iraq Al Amir Women’s Cooperative in Jordan, which gained international tour operator partnerships after being featured on the Map.
Tourism Cares
In collaboration with the Tourist Organization of Banja Luka, Minja connected local communities and organizations in Krupa na Vrbasu to promote inclusive tourism experiences. Her work led to Krupa na Vrbasu being included in the World’s Best Villages Network (UN Tourism) and the Most Beautiful Villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and her expertise has been recognized by other cities in BiH who hired her to develop rural tourism projects.
Minja Kovacevic Surlan
The Hybrid Tours partners with local guides, grassroots organizations, and displaced people to ensure tourism dollars benefit marginalized communities. They collaborate with survivors of war and genocide to create bridges between travelers and overlooked communities.
The Hybrid Tours
Lunfarda Travel is the only company in Argentina working with CAF (Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean) to promote Afrotourism, bringing global visibility to the Afro-Argentine community. They developed Argentina’s first Afro-FAM trip, creating a sustainable pipeline of opportunities for Afro-Argentine guides, artists, and communities while partnering with institutions like Mocha Celis and LGBTQ+ initiatives to ensure multiple communities benefit directly from tourism.
Lunfarda Travel
Under President & CEO Fred Ferguson’s leadership, ABA has made DEI central to its mission by creating affinity groups including the African American Motorcoach Council, Hispanic Motorcoach Council, and Women in Buses Council. Through their groundbreaking partnership with AIANTA, ABA expanded opportunities for Indigenous-owned tourism businesses, and they provide members with practical resources like guides on curating Black heritage tours and Indigenous tourism.
American Bus Association
For over eight years, Destination Asia has provided young, marginalized Indonesian women with hospitality training and employment opportunities through their partnership with Bali WISE. The program offers on-the-job training and financial support at their Bali office, equipping participants with practical knowledge and competencies needed to thrive in the hospitality sector while building a network that helps them break free from poverty constraints.
Destination Asia
Outstanding Academic Research
Dr. Jamgade’s doctoral research on “Promotion of Sustainable Economic Ecotourism in Rural Areas of Nagpur District, India” presents a holistic framework integrating environmental sustainability with social inclusivity. Her work demonstrates how participatory planning, equitable revenue-sharing models, and culturally sensitive tourism experiences benefit marginalized local communities, indigenous groups, and women stakeholders, and she has mentored undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD students to focus on local people employability and inclusivity in ecotourism.
Dr. Sweety Jamgade
Siqi (Emily) Lu
Dr. Bella Vongvisitsin
Anna and Dr. Olena’s case study examines how a pay-what-you-wish pricing model can create sustainable and socially responsible cultural institutions, providing a framework for analyzing how unique pricing strategies balance financial viability with social missions. Their research demonstrates how pricing can be used as a tool for accessibility, challenging traditional revenue models and offering insights that could influence policy and practice in cultural institutions globally.
Anna Abelson and Dr. Olena Ciftci
Dr Brielle Gillovic and Professor Alison McIntosh
Outstanding Organizational Initiative
Global Glimpse
Richmond Region Tourism Foundation
Orange 142
The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group
ITC HOTELS LIMITED
Young Professional
Amine Gabbouj
Joe Jamison
Nicolas Scott
Puneet Singh Singhal
Akshay Tyagi
Meet the Judges
Community Impact
Stephanie Sheehy
Owner, IL VIAGGIO Travel
Sonya Bradley
Chief Inclusion and Community Engagement Officer, Visit Sacramento
Sven Wiltink
Global Senior Director of Sustainability, Radisson Hotel Group
Outstanding Academic Research
Dr. Juan Madera
Curtis L. Carlson Endowed Professor, Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston
Dr. Edwin Gómez
Professor, Department of Recreation Sciences, East Carolina University
Vincie Ho
Founder & Executive Director, RISE Travel Institute
Outstanding Organizational Initiative
Josh Heinz
Community Engagement Manager, Visit Greater Palm Springs
Romey Louangvilay
Co-Founder, VP & Head of Communications, ELMNTL
Shayna Walker
Global Head of ED+I, Tripadvisor
Young Professional
Diego Rendon
President & CEO of Associated Students Incorporated, CSUMB
Noor Ahmad Hamid
CEO, Pacific Asia Travel Association
Dona Regis-Prosper
Secretary General & CEO, Caribbean Tourism Organization
Sponsors
2024 Award Winners
| Dr. Juan Madera 2024 Outstanding Academic Research Award “for his research focusing on DEI in the hospitality and tourism section” | Stephanie Sheehy 2024 Community Impact Award “promotes DEI in the travel and fashion industries” | Tonya Fitzpatrick 2024 Applied DEI Champion Award “advocates for marginalized communities in travel“ |
| Visit Greater Palm Springs 2024 Outstanding Organizational Initiative Award “promotes inclusive tourism, ensuring the industry benefits all community members” | Diego Rendon 2024 Youth Award “advocates for inclusivity in travel, impacting his university and beyond” | Ethan Gelber 2024 Director Appreciation Award “for his role in founding Travel Unity and his years of dedicated service to its mission“ |