The Travel Noire Awards are our annual recognition of the destinations, brands, and people redefining Black travel — chosen by editors who research and vet, not by popularity vote. This is the fifth installment, spanning seven categories for 2026.
Each year, the Travel Noire Awards celebrate the destinations, brands, and people redefining how we experience the world as Black travelers. The places that make us feel something from the moment we land. The dining tables where we exchange stories and find commonalities between destinations that are worlds apart. The people whose hearts and care create spaces that make you feel seen in ways you’ve never experienced before.
Across the globe, visionary hoteliers, culinary custodians, and cultural griots are creating immersive experiences that bring Black travelers into their way of life, traditions, and communities. Whether it’s a wellness sanctuary in the rice fields of Bali or a multi-course South African food-and-wine pairing that keeps Nelson Mandela‘s favorite dishes alive through plate and performance, these Black-owned experiences change you without ever feeling staged.
The 2026 Travel Noire Awards honorees are living proof that community, not algorithms, still leads us to the best travel experiences.
How Are Travel Noire Honorees Chosen?
Identifying the destinations and individuals that reshape the way we think about travel wasn’t a popularity contest. In the early days of Black travel as we know it, you had to be connected to find the places where we felt safe to exist and free to explore. Natives welcomed visitors to discover their culture beyond the marketing narratives we’d relied on for decades. Others became the representation they didn’t see in the places they visited, building spaces that openly invited the rest of us along for the journey.
That spirit is still the throughline. Black travel has grown exponentially since then, but the principle hasn’t changed: community is still the surest way to find the places that make us feel safe, seen, and supported.
As we celebrate the fifth installment of the Travel Noire Awards, this year’s honorees bring that same energy. That’s why we curated a list of honorees whose work isn’t about profit alone. It’s about the people being welcomed and those doing the welcoming. These experiences turn other parts of the world into second, third, and fourth homes. They give us comfort we don’t always find at home, and often stretch us, too. They remind us to live, discover, and wander — but with intention and a deeper understanding of the places we visit and the people who call them home.
We’re proud to say that the 2026 honorees consistently meet every mark.
Where Did Travel Noire Look For 2026 Honorees?
We wanted to look beyond the usual suspects — the destinations that don’t always get the recognition they deserve, and the Black-owned businesses and people building something truly meaningful within them. For many of us, Black travel has tended to cluster around the same few destinations (you know the ones). And while this year’s list includes a few familiar cities and voices in travel, that’s proof of their staying power as leaders in this conversation: They continue to welcome us, preserve our cultures, and create the experiences that inspire us to travel and navigate the world.
Somewhere in the world, right now, someone who looks like us is building a place worth crossing an ocean for. The categories ahead are where you’ll meet them.
The 2026 Travel Noire Awards Categories
- The Destinations We Think You’re Sleeping On
- The Black-Owned Stays Worth Booking Anywhere in the World
- The Tables Worth Booking A Flight For
- The Cities Defining Black Travel Right Now
- The Places We’d Tell Our Friends to Book
- The Wellness Escapes Actually Built for Us
- The Voices Shaping How We Travel
Come back tomorrow, August 19, when we reveal this year’s TN Awards honorees — and the best-in-class hospitality experiences that earned a spot on the list.
