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Traveller Awards: Hall of Fame
From an iconic Cape Town hotel to a trailblazing regional food festival, these are the legends of travel – the places and brands that consistently deliver exceptional experiences and unforgettable holiday memories. This handpicked list of Hall of Fame inductees celebrate not only excellence in execution but also a pioneering spirit, environmental stewardship, and a commitment to cultural preservation. Read on for our Traveller Awards 2025 winners in the Hall of Fame category.
Kamalaya
Asia has no shortage of high-end spas but few have such a devoted following as Kamalaya. Over the past 20 years, this Koh Samui retreat has developed more than a dozen specialised programs focused on everything from sleeping to brain health, each one drawing on Ayurvedic teachings and traditional Chinese medicine as well as the latest neuroscience. Even if you don’t have a particular concern that needs addressing, every element of Kamalaya – from its lush setting to its fabulous food and its attentive staff – will provide you with nurturing you didn’t even realise you needed. See kamalaya.com
Singapore’s Green Revolution
Among Singapore’s impressive achievements in its first 60 years as an independent nation – an anniversary that’s being marked throughout this year – the remarkable greening of the island state must be high among them. Although the main beneficiaries of Singapore’s so-called Green Plan, defined as “collective whole-of-nation effort” to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, are its citizens, and rightly so. But international visitors can also enjoy the benefits by staying in one of its many biophilic or gardens-in-the-air, hotels, such as the benchmark Parkroyal Collection Pickering. It, among others, was designed by WOHA, the groundbreaking Singaporean-Australian architectural firm that’s been at the forefront of Singapore’s green revolution. See greenplan.gov.sg
Tasmania Walking Company
Given its environment, it isn’t surprising that the walking community in Tasmania is exceptionally strong and, on a commercial level, that community seems to breed guides and operators of exceptional quality. Enter the Tasmanian Walking Company, first to host walks on the legendary Overland Track, expanding to the coast and the Bay of Fires, then the spectacular Three Capes Walk and Bruny Island Long Weekend. The formula works – combining extraordinary locations with great hosts, food and accommodation – so it expanded beyond Tasmania to the Great Ocean Road, Kangaroo Island and the Larapinta Trail. What’s next? In April, it launches a five-day walk at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, a project many years in the making and created with the local Anangu community, exploring their culture and history and the astonishing landscape that surrounds them. See taswalkingco.com.au
Eurail
As we fall back in love with long-distance Europe rail travel, the Eurail rail pass is enjoying a renewed flush of vitality. Pluses include convenient departures from city centres that negate the need for pricey airport transfers, easier customs processes and it’s more sustainable than air travel. Launched in 1959, Eurail passes are valid in 33 European countries, and offer convenient cross-border travel for all budgets and styles of travel – from single seats to solo sleeper cabins. The pass opens up access to more than 30,000 cities, towns and villages across the continent, from Ireland to Turkey, diffusing travellers away from overcrowded hotspots. Recent innovations include its Rail Planner app and the Greek Islands pass. See eurail.com
Mount Nelson, Cape Town
No hotel in Cape Town is more iconic than the “pink lady.” Nicknamed for its pastel pink colour and stately facade, Mount Nelson, now a Belmond Hotel, has overlooked the city since 1899. Set in a fragrant 3.6 hectare garden, The Nellie, as the hotel is also affectionately known, was renovated with great style in 2022 and over the years has hosted distinguished guests such as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. Clever touches such as a pink combi van on hand for surf tours and a range of services for guests and their pets have reinvented the legendary hotel for a younger generation. See belmond.com
Ayers Rock Resort
Australians, all let us rejoice and doff our swaggie cork hats, to Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia’s Ayers Rock Resort which, hard as it may be to believe, is now more than four decades young. While the term “ecotourism” was coined at around the same time in the early 1980s as Australian architect Philip Cox conceived his environmentally sensitive design for the resort at Yulara in the Northern Territory, it was hardly an established movement. Set back at a distance of about 20 kilometres from Uluru, Ayers Rock Resort, largely in its original form, has somehow not only endured but been constantly reinvented with the creation of innovative attractions such as its Sounds of Silence dinners, the Field of Light display, the Wintjiri Wiru drone show and GoCA (Gallery of Central Australia) showcasing the region’s Indigenous art. See ayersrockresort.com.au
Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, Tasmania
These adventure operators would need an extension on the family home to host all their state and national awards. Pennicott started small with one boat taking visitors on Bruny Island tours. It’s still exposing that particular piece of Tasmania’s natural paradise, but now also offers journeys to Wineglass Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula and around the spectacular capes of the Tasman Peninsula – beneath the state’s highest sea cliffs – often sighting whales and nearly always seals and dolphins. It also works for the environment contributing, for example, to a program to eradicate feral cats from Tasman Island (a bait called “curiosity” was created for the project), thereby saving thousands of seabirds. See pennicottjourneys.com.au
Orange FOOD Week
This pioneering event, held in autumn each year, is a testament to the remarkable evolution of a destination. Australia’s longest running regional food festival began more than three decades ago, and has helped establish Orange and surrounding towns as the food bowl of NSW. It has grown in lockstep with the region – 80 vineyards, 13 wineries and a dynamic dining scene that has produced two chef-hatted restaurants in the 2025 SMH Good Food Guide –and is further proof of its foodie chops. Last year the festival, along with its signature Sampson Street Lunch, attracted 26,000 visitors. See orangefoodweek.com.au
Brae, Victoria
Most country towns support restaurants rather than the other way around. Brae, the serially lauded restaurant in tiny Birregurra, a two-hour drive south-west of Melbourne, is a shining case of how such a business can support a whole town and why nearly every one really needs a great – or, if that can’t be arranged, a good – eatery. Not only do Brae’s founders Dan Hunter and Julianne Bagnato operate a stellar fine diner, they also run an architect-designed boutique hotel and an organic farm, all on the same property, in what amounts to an exemplary tourism business now more than a decade old. There are few places quite like it anywhere in Australia, let alone Victoria itself. See braerestaurant.com
World Expeditions
Founded 50 years ago as a specialist in Nepalese mountain trips, World Expeditions has become the go-to choice for adventure holidays across all seven continents. The company now runs everything from hiking and cycling to kayaking and walking holidays, and has pioneered routes including the Red Centre’s Larapinta Trail. World Expeditions’ commitment to supporting the communities and landscapes in which it operates includes investing in local schools and clinics as well as initiatives such as the porter protection policy and the pioneering 10 Pieces litter reduction campaign, in which hikers pick up 10 pieces of litter every day as they walk. See worldexpeditions.com
Traveller Awards contributors: Kate Allman, Kate Armstrong, Flip Byrnes, Justine Costigan, Jim Darby, Anthony Dennis, Ben Groundwater, Jenny Hewett, Belinda Jackson, Kerry van der Jagt, Julietta Jameson, Trudi Jenkins, Brian Johnston, Ute Junker, Katrina Lobley, Catherine Marshall, Chrissie McClatchie, Rob McFarland, Justin Meneguzzi, Julie Miller, Jane Reddy, Jane Richards, Katherine Scott, Craig Tansley, Lee Tulloch, Sue Williams, Riley Wilson.
