Bright Ideas in Travel 2026: 25 Projects Shaping a Better Way to See the World

Mark Twain, who died in 1910, once wrote that travel dismantles prejudice. Nearly 160 years after his account of crossing the Atlantic was published, being well traveled is less about counting countries and more about how you engage with them.

For its annual Bright Ideas in Travel list, Conde Nast Traveler sifted through more than 200 submissions from every continent, applying a framework around environmental and societal impact, to select 25 winners.

The 2026 honorees include the Jaguar Rivers Initiative, a South American wildlife corridor launched in September 2025 that has raised about $42 million; Viking Libra, the world's first hydrogen-powered cruise ship, due to sail in December 2026; Etihad Rail, the UAE's first passenger train network; and Project Hiu, which hires Indonesian shark fishermen as tour guides.

Other winners include Timeshifter, a jet-lag app; the Steppes Travel Fund for Female Guides; the Cayuga Collection's Wildlife Season; AmaWaterways' revived Magdalena River cruises; China's Qushui Lanting superspas; SS Sign Language Tourism in Uganda; the Tāmaki Taiao Alliance in Auckland; Ponant and Woods Hole's polar research partnership; the Black Trans Travel Fund; Becoming rentABLE; Relais & Châteaux and UNESCO's dining initiatives; Chattanooga, Tennessee; the Passport Index; the Tasmanian Walking Company; European Sleeper; American Airlines' sustainable aviation fuel deal; Greenland's tourism strategy; Shakti Himalaya; Air New Zealand's Skynest; Huna Totem Corporation; and Ted Turner Reserves.