Best Responsible Tourism Initiative

InOut Hostel, located near Barcelona, Spain, launched in 2004 and is Europe’s first hospitality business staffed at 90% by individuals with disabilities. The hostel is Biosphere-certified and integrates sustainability practices such as solar panels, water recycling, LED lighting, biomass heating, elimination of single-use plastics, recycled furnishings, and EV charging stations.

InOut’s social impact goes far beyond employment, demonstrating that job inclusion is not only possible, but can also be profitable, professional, and scalable. InOut has served as a replicable model for the global hospitality industry, demonstrating that the integration of people with disabilities can be a real driver of innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness. This conviction – that competition, inclusion, and prosperity can go hand in hand – is its greatest contribution to the sector and to the community of travellers and residents alike. The Hostel exemplifies how mission-driven hospitality can transform lives- of both staff and travellers – while delivering high service standards and environmental responsibility.

Outstanding Contribution to the SDGs

African Impact’s Girl Impact Program supports both girls and boys aged 10 and above, with a particular focus on empowering Grade 5 and 6 students across several community schools in Livingstone. Through a structured, year-long curriculum delivered weekly by staff and volunteers, African Impact addresses essential life topics often absent from formal education or family discussions – such as self-esteem, leadership, personal health and mental health, safety, and menstrual hygiene.

The program offers international volunteers a powerful opportunity to contribute directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals while gaining a deep understanding of Zambian culture and community development.

Best Use of AI

Ediphi’s AI talent‑readiness suite Skill Sense combines its multilingual conversational‑AI trainer, immersive VR modules, and an AI‑driven Interview App to help hospitality and tourism students build the competence and confidence required for international work and travel placements. Learners practice role‑specific scenarios in their own language, receive instant feedback on technical and soft skills, then transition to timed mock interviews that mirror embassy and employer questioning styles.

Progress data syncs to real‑time dashboards used by universities, visa sponsors, and employers to track readiness and provide targeted coaching. Skill Sense removes two persistent barriers to global mobility: unequal access to high‑quality training and the anxiety of high‑stakes interviews. By scaling culturally-adaptive AI coaching, the platform levels the playing field for students from non‑elite institutions and widens talent pipelines for employers facing post‑pandemic shortages. The result is a virtuous loop: better‑prepared youth travellers, happier host communities, and a hospitality sector that retains diverse talent.

Best Marketing Campaign

Stepabroad’s Working Holiday Academy: Australia is a bold, digital-first marketing campaign paired with a free, self-guided platform that empowers Canadian youth to plan their entire working holiday to Australia, from visa application to job search, all in one place, at zero cost.

The campaign and platform were created to solve a growing problem: thousands of young Canadians were interested in working holidays but lacked the knowledge, confidence, or financial means to act. Using Meta ads, followed by automated nurturing via Mailchimp email sequences, WhatsApp video messaging, and CRM segmentation, the marketing campaign moves participants from awareness to interest to action with precision and scalability.

To date, the marketing campaign video has close to four million views and over 1,600 young people have enrolled in the program. With participants averaging 24.5 years old, and representation across all Canadian provinces, the Working Holiday Academy is attracting a new generation of global travellers and making the dream of living and working abroad truly achievable.

Youth Travel Influencer of the Year

The Poor Traveler (TPT) is an example of using social media influence for good. It’s one of the biggest travel-centric social media accounts in the Southeast Asian region. But aside from highlighting travel destinations and tips, it has also used its clout for championing conservation causes and spearheading youth-focused projects like a scholarship programs in the Philippines. TPT started out as a blog site, founded by Yosh Dimen and Vins Carlos in 2010, to empower travellers and aspiring travellers to explore the world through smart planning. TPT is one of the first influencers in the Philippines to shift the lens to “third-world perspective” and create content about visa processes and woes as well as dealing with local immigration hurdles.

Giving back to the community is also part of TPT’s DNA. In 2024, it launched the TPT Scholarship Program, which aims to provide financial assistance to college students in Tourism, Environmental Science, Biology, Forestry, Arts, History, and similar programs. TPT has also worked with the Department of Tourism in the Philippines and GoNegosyo, an entrepreneurship-based organisation, in delivering talks about how they could use digital to their advantage. In 2023, TPT was recognised as a Special Awardee for Travel Content Creation for its contributions in promoting domestic tourism.

Best Work Experience Provider

For many young culinary professionals, the dream of working in a MICHELIN-starred kitchen remains just that – a dream. But through Alliance Abroad España’s internship program, that dream becomes a reality. This program offers aspiring chefs from Latin America the opportunity to train under some of the world’s most celebrated culinary figures. From the outset, Alliance Abroad España identified a gap in the market: very few programs were designed by Spanish speakers, for Spanish speakers, despite strong demand across Latin America. This program is intentionally built for a global Spanish-speaking population, removing language and cultural barriers that often prevent young talent from accessing international opportunities.

The program goes beyond skills acquisition; it is about personal transformation. Participants develop confidence, professionalism, and a global mindset. They return home with stronger job prospects and a clearer vision of their future.

Best Education Abroad Provider

EcoTraining provides immersive conservation education in Africa, offering international students the opportunity to study in some of Africa’s most biodiverse and remote wilderness areas. Its flagship Field Guide, Trails Guide, and EcoTraining Experience programmes offer structured, accredited training experiences for students of all ages from around the world. These take place at EcoTraining’s unfenced bush camps across South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya, allowing students to learn in the wild while gaining globally recognised qualifications, leadership skills, and deep ecological understanding. EcoTraining plays a vital role in bridging education with ethical youth travel.

The programmes connect young people with nature, practical conservation skills, and African cultures, contributing to the development of globally minded, environmentally aware citizens. Local communities benefit through employment, environmental education, and shared economic opportunities.

Extraordinary Experience

The Conflict and the Struggle for Peace: Explorations in Ireland and the Middle East brings students together with leading peace and justice experts in Ireland and Jordan to study some of today’s most pressing diplomatic challenges. Beginning in Dublin, students explore the Anglo-Irish peace process as a case study in conflict analysis, negotiation, and implementation. A study tour in Northern Ireland follows before the program moves to Amman, where students examine colonial legacies, regional responses to injustice, civil society’s role, economic dimensions of peacebuilding, and issues of gender and equity across the MENA region.

Through this dual focus, the program fosters reflection, cross-cultural engagement, and a critical understanding of peace and conflict, preparing students to approach global challenges with ethical awareness and civic responsibility.

Best Hostel

Lub d Phuket Patong is a vibrant hub for modern youth travellers, blending affordability with quality, redefining the hostel experience by blending a vibrant social atmosphere with culturally immersive activities, near Patong Beach. Its “Awe Together” philosophy fosters a community where global travellers connect through curated programs like Thai language classes and island tours. This approach allows guests to immerse themselves in local life and connect with fellow adventurers. Lub d Phuket Patong champions affordable, authentic, and connected youth travel, prioritizing genuine cultural immersion, enriching travel through shared experiences.

Best Sustainable Tour Operator

Camps International is redefining youth travel through ethical, sustainable expeditions that empower young people and support communities worldwide. As a social enterprise, the organisation designs and delivers hands-on adventures for students aged 12–18, operating across seven countries (Borneo, Cambodia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ecuador, Peru and Costa Rica).

Its purpose-driven model combines meaningful project work, cultural immersion and adventure, ensuring every journey benefits both the traveller and the places they visit. Camps International’s expeditions are built around long-term, community-led initiatives in education, housing, sanitation, conservation, and regeneration. Each project aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is supported by its free “Real World Studies” programme, which brings global issues into the classroom.

Best Local Community Engagement

Abraham is a regional tourism group operating hostels and tour companies in Israel and the Philippines. Whilst Abraham normally serves thousands of international youth travellers, its commitment to community engagement extends far beyond tourism, especially in times of disruption. Following the Israel-Gaza war, Abraham repurposed its spaces to support affected communities. Its hostels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Eilat became emergency homes for hundreds of evacuated families and partnered with the Ministry of Education to set up in-house school and kindergarten to create a sense of community life for the evacuees.

Recognising the emotional toll on young adults, Abraham launched The Abraham Tent, a grief and resilience programme co-developed with the Gvanim Association. The programme includes peer-led workshops, therapy circles, and creative sessions for local youth in their 20s and 30s. What began as a temporary response has evolved into a recognised model for youth support and post-trauma recovery, presented at national conferences and studied by Hebrew University researchers. Abraham also created Impact Tours to the Gaza Envelope to stand in solidarity with communities rebuilding their homes and businesses. Despite the sharp decline in tourism, Abraham has stayed relevant and present, continuing to host events, engage partners, and open its doors to the community. Abraham’s approach reflects a long-term commitment to care, creativity, and connection – turning hospitality spaces into platforms for local resilience.

WYSTC Partnership Award

Attracting working holiday travellers to New Zealand is a core goal for LyLo. In 2024, Managing Director Tim Alpe attended WYSTC with the aim of building partnerships to support this focus. What followed exceeded all expectations: a transformative collaboration between LyLo, JENZA, AIFS, and several other WYSTC partners that not only ensured the continuity of a key youth mobility program but significantly expanded its reach and value.
Previously, LyLo served as the accommodation partner for the JENZA working holiday orientation program. At WYSTC, JENZA presented LyLo with the opportunity to take over the full operational control of the program, a suggestion supported by AIFS. A strategic conversation between JENZA, AIFS, and LyLo – sparked at the conference – led in the new year to the development of a fully co-ordinated approach benefiting from the input and experience of all parties.

By March 2025, the revitalised Work, Stay + Play program launched under LyLo’s leadership. Leveraging hotel operations and staff, LyLo streamlined delivery, appointed a dedicated program co-ordinator, and worked closely with the partners to ensure a continuation of the high standard of service delivery the program had always achieved (a key JENZA and AIFS requirement). The result is a more efficient, scalable, and financially sustainable program that continues to receive glowing 5-star feedback from participants.

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About the Global Youth Travel Awards
The Global Youth Travel Awards (GYTAs) formally recognise outstanding performers in fourteen fields of international youth travel and reward WYSE Travel Confederation members and other stakeholders in the youth, student and educational travel industry who make an outstanding contribution to our industry. The GYTAs began at the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) 2011 in Barcelona with a focus on bringing to light the great experiences being provided by members of the community. The Awards ceremony has subsequently been held annually at WYSTC, bar the 2020 and 2021 editions which took place virtually.

About WYSE Travel Confederation
The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for the youth, student and educational travel industry. Founded in 2006 and created from the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) – both formed after World War II to inspire young people through international travel and to help remove cultural barriers – the confederation brings together 60 years of youth travel expertise. From adventure tour operators to au pair agencies, cultural exchange programmes to language schools, hop-on-hop-off buses to student insurance and youth hostels to volunteer programmes, WYSE Travel Confederation is the world’s most powerful network of youth and student travel professionals, connecting key industry players with decision makers and government officials.

The Confederation is committed to understanding the ever-changing characteristics, motivations and needs of young travellers. By gathering, analysing and sharing important market intelligence with members, academics and government decision-makers, the unique fast-changing needs of the youth market is at the forefront of its activities as it seeks to accelerate the development of youth travel.