Brussels hosted something genuinely rare in June: a room full of travel operators, hoteliers, and tourism entrepreneurs getting excited about restoring forests, rebuilding local economies, and putting money directly into the hands of communities.
The ICRT Europe Responsible Tourism Forum and Awards ceremony at the Press Club Brussels unveiled the winners of its 2026 competition, and the projects recognized paint a picture of what modern tourism can actually accomplish. This wasn't a list of corporate greenwashing efforts. The winners showed measurable impact, creative problem-solving, and approaches that other operators can steal and adapt.
TUI Forest Mallorca took gold in the climate adaptation category for reconstructing forests, dune systems, and wildlife habitats in Spain's Península de Llevant Natural Park. The judges were impressed not just by the habitat restoration, but by how they combined biodiversity protection with visitor education and community involvement. That combination matters. A restored forest means nothing if locals don't benefit and visitors don't understand what they're looking at.
Elsewhere across Europe, the winners ranged from the boldly specific to the quietly important. Unseen Tours in London won the diversity and inclusion award by employing people with lived experience of homelessness as walking tour guides. Addiopizzo Travel in Sicily earned the local economic benefit award by directing visitor spending exclusively to businesses that publicly refuse to pay Mafia protection money. Club Marvy in Turkey integrated marine conservation and habitat protection into resort operations while tracking measurable biodiversity gains. CAS Trips in the Czech Republic built entire educational travel programs around connecting visitors to local communities rather than treating them as props.
What struck Harold Goodwin, founder of ICRT Global and chair of the judges, was how practical these initiatives had become. "The judges were impressed by the quality and practicality of the initiatives entered this year," Goodwin said. "We saw tourism businesses demonstrating how tourism can actively restore ecosystems, strengthen local economies, celebrate cultural diversity, and create opportunities for people who are often excluded."
The competition drew entries from Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Finland, Montenegro, Croatia, and Poland. That geographic spread matters because it shows this approach isn't confined to one country or region. Projects won silver awards and "One to Watch" recognition for fire resilience, climate adaptation, cultural heritage preservation, and low-impact operations. TUI Field to Fork Greece connected farmers and food producers to support regenerative agriculture across Crete and Rhodes.
easyJet holidays sponsored the awards, and the company's rationale was straightforward: recognizing successful initiatives spreads the model. When businesses celebrate and share best practices, the entire industry shifts. It's how change actually happens in hospitality and travel.
The European gold winners now move into global competition. They'll face regional winners from Latin America, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia for the Global Responsible Tourism Awards, with results announced in London this November. It's worth paying attention to who wins at that level because those projects become the templates for what responsible tourism actually looks like at scale.
For travelers, these awards offer something useful. They identify operators and destinations taking their environmental and social impact seriously, with measurable outcomes rather than vague promises. If you're booking a trip to Mallorca, Greece, Sicily, London, or Turkey, you now know which operators are genuinely working to improve things.