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CHN Nepal, Responsible Travel announced as winners of Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award 2025

B360 March 11, 2025, 4:39 pm

CHN Nepal, Responsible Travel announced as winners of Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award 2025

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KATHMANDU: Equality in Tourism, an international organisation dedicated to advancing gender equality within the tourism industry, has announced the winners of the prestigious Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award 2025.

Now in its third year, the award recognises remarkable organisations committed to promoting gender equality within tourism and hospitality worldwide.

This year’s shortlist featured nine outstanding candidates who demonstrated exceptional dedication to policies, practices, and initiatives that empower women and create more equitable workplaces.

Winners from the two categories—Travel & Destinations, and Accommodation—were unveiled during a special ceremony held on March 6 at ITB Berlin's LGBTQ+ Tourism Pavilion Stage.

In the Travel & Destinations category, Responsible Travel from Ecuador emerged as the winner. Judges felt the South American travel operator 'lives and breathes gender equality', as evidenced in an outstanding application and a public declaration of their values on their website. Since making the 2024 shortlist, they have continued to strengthen their commitment to gender equality, including within their environmental recovery projects.

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Community Homestay Network from Nepal won in the Accommodation category. The judges praised this social enterprise homestay network for its thorough and transparent gender equality efforts that run throughout its business, including areas such as disaster risk reduction, climate risk, and gender awareness training.

The panel also highly commended the new women-led Amba Yaalu (Mango Friends) Kandalama hotel in Sri Lanka, highlighting them as a promising tourism actor with huge potential.

These organisations follow in the footsteps of previous winners such as Eternal Landscapes Mongolia, Accor Brazil Embrace Programme, and Travel Excellence, who have all pushed boundaries and made impactful strides towards a more balanced workplace.

This year’s winners were selected from the shortlist by a distinguished panel of global gender and tourism experts, including representatives from the two award sponsors – Michelle Mason from the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and Dawn Briggs from Sojern. They were joined by Hector De Castro of Regenera Luxury, Rika Jean-François of MissionRespo, and UNWTO consultant Lucy Ferguson.

Michelle Mason, Social Responsibility and Recognition Programme Manager at the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, commented, “At the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, our mission is to create a fairer and more inclusive hospitality industry. As a sponsor of the Gender Equality Champion of the Year Award, we proudly support Equality in Tourism in recognising inspiring organisations that go beyond words to create real impact."

She added, “All of the shortlisted nominees exemplify extraordinary dedication to advancing gender equality. Their work does not just inspire; it ignites meaningful change that extends far beyond their immediate reach. We celebrate and recognise their commitment to the cause, as true changemakers in our industry."

Dr Stroma Cole, Reader in Tourism at the University of Westminster and Co-Director of Equality in Tourism, chaired the judging panel and echoed the sentiment, “Our 2025 Gender Equality Champions each submitted exceptional applications that demonstrated real care and commitment to creating change for women. We are delighted to spotlight the impactful and transformative work they are doing to pioneer a more equitable industry."

She added, “There can be no true sustainability in tourism without gender equality. We urge fellow organisations to look to our winners for inspiration – they set a shining example for peers to learn from.”