Benin and Ethiopia took the spotlight as the leading winners at the Africa Tourism Awards 2026, according to ATTA® Travel. The ceremony, known as The Balearica Awards, was held on Sunday, 1 November at the Hilton London Canary Wharf.
The event brought together Africa's tourism industry to honour achievements across destinations, aviation, hospitality, tourism investment, sustainability and individual leadership. ATTA® Travel reports that the awards recognised organisations, destinations and personalities working to shape the future of tourism across Africa and the wider African diaspora.
Why it matters
The Balearica Awards give the continent's tourism sector a single stage on which destinations, companies and individuals are measured against one another. For Benin and Ethiopia, coming out ahead of the field places both countries at the centre of a conversation about where African tourism is heading.
The ceremony's spread of categories is also telling. By covering aviation, hospitality, investment and sustainability alongside destination awards, the programme treats tourism as an interconnected industry rather than a collection of attractions. A country's performance in one area — say, air links — shapes its appeal in another.
Holding the event in London adds a further dimension. The British capital is a major source market for travel to Africa and a hub for diaspora communities with ties across the continent. Staging the awards there puts African tourism in front of international audiences, investors and media, not only domestic ones.
A broad field of recognition
ATTA® Travel's account of the evening describes an awards programme spanning several distinct areas of the industry. Destinations were recognised, as were airlines and aviation businesses, hotels and hospitality operators, and projects tied to tourism investment. Sustainability featured as its own category, reflecting the growing weight the sector places on environmental and community considerations. Individual leadership was also honoured, acknowledging people whose work has influenced tourism's direction.
The breadth means the winners' list extends well beyond Benin and Ethiopia, even though those two countries drew the most attention. The ceremony's purpose, as ATTA® Travel frames it, is to celebrate outstanding achievement across the whole ecosystem that supports travel to and within Africa.
What the wins signal
Benin and Ethiopia arriving as the biggest winners is notable for different reasons. Ethiopia has long been established on the continental tourism map, with a national carrier that gives it reach into international markets and a heritage offer that draws visitors from around the world. Benin, smaller and often less prominent in global tourism marketing, has been working to raise its profile, and a strong showing at an awards programme of this kind gives it visibility among industry peers and travel trade audiences.
The awards do not, on their own, change visitor numbers or investment flows. But recognition at a ceremony attended by the sector's operators, investors and media can open doors — to partnerships, to press coverage, and to conversations with airlines and tour operators who decide where capacity and itineraries go.
ATTA® Travel notes that the awards celebrate the organisations and people helping to shape tourism's future across Africa and the diaspora. That framing places this year's winners within a longer effort to build a more visible, competitive and connected tourism economy on the continent.
What to watch
The next test will be whether the recognition translates into tangible momentum — new routes, investment announcements or marketing pushes from Benin and Ethiopia — and how the 2027 edition of the Balearica Awards reshapes the field.
