The story

Why we built the awards travel forgot to build.

The people who now decide where the world travels have never had a credible global stage. We run awards for a living, we watched the gap sit there, and we decided to claim it.

The gap

Every part of travel has a trophy. Except the part that works.

Hotels have awards. Airlines have awards. Destinations, cruise lines and travel journalists all have awards, some of them decades old and rightly respected. Meanwhile the booking decision quietly moved to a phone screen, into the hands of creators, and the trophy cabinet never noticed. The people with the most influence over where the world actually goes have a token category here and a certificate mill there. That is the gap. Gaps like this get filled once, by whoever moves first and does it credibly.

Creator firstBuilt around creators, not squeezed in beside journalists
GlobalAny creator, any country, any platform
JudgedAn industry panel chaired by Paul Sagoo, founder of The Passport Awards, scoring impact, not follower count. Invitations are out to tourism and travel media leaders on five continents, and the full panel is announced on 1 December 2026
Free to enterFunded by partners, never by creators
Who is behind it

Awards people, not tourists.

The Passport Awards comes from the founder of The Asian Awards and a portfolio of established awards brands, and runs end to end on Accolade, the awards platform we built: nominations, blind judging and public voting on one system. We have run awards nights before. This time the premiere is online, made for the people who film it.

The pedigree

Fifteen years of awards

The founder has run credible, judged, sold out awards for more than fifteen years, from The Asian Awards to the British Photography Awards, which is why the launch edition starts strong instead of scrappy.

The machinery

Powered by Accolade

Nominations, judging and voting run on our own awards platform. No spreadsheets, no black box: blind scoring, audit trails and a public methodology. Round one votes count for 30% of the shortlisting score, finals votes for 40% of each finalist's final score, and the public alone decides The People's Passport.

The principle

Credibility is the product

Free entry, an industry panel chaired by Paul Sagoo, founder of The Passport Awards, published criteria and partners who never vote. The moment an award can be bought it is worth nothing. Ours cannot be.

Where this goes

Year one is the launch. The plan is an institution.

2027

The launch edition

Twenty awards, the first Stamped 100, and the winners announced on the eve of ITB Berlin. The live ceremony is coming to Berlin, ITB week.

EVERY YEAR

The Stamped 100

The annual ranking becomes the reference list for the industry: cited in media kits, used in briefs, argued about in group chats.

MID YEAR

Arrivals

The rising stars drop keeps the brand alive between ceremonies and feeds the next Class.

BEYOND

The credential

"Won a Passport" becomes the line in a creator's bio that brands look for. That is the whole ambition, and it compounds every year.

Get involved

Three doors in.

Creators nominate. Brands and boards partner. Everyone else votes free and backs the first Class of 2027.

Nominate Partner with us See the nominees

The founder

Who is behind this

The Passport Awards is founded and produced by Paul Sagoo OBE, who has spent two decades building award institutions and lives inside the travel industry these awards serve.

Paul Sagoo OBE

Paul Sagoo OBE

Founder

Founder of The Asian Awards, the global institution that has honoured Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Jackie Chan, and whose ceremonies have trended number one worldwide with over four billion social impressions in a single night. Founder of Lemon Group International, The British Photography Awards and The British Science Awards, and one of LinkedIn's original Influencers alongside Sir Richard Branson. Appointed OBE in 2022 for services to diversity, inclusion and philanthropy. A lifelong traveller who has spent two decades putting the world's most influential people in one room.

The track record

From the team behind international awards.

The Asian Awards

Founded 2010. Honourees from Sachin Tendulkar to Shah Rukh Khan; trended number one worldwide with over four billion social impressions in a single night.

Founded by Paul Sagoo OBE

British Photography Awards

The national celebration of British photographic talent, run with charitable partnerships across the industry.

Founded by Paul Sagoo OBE

British Science Awards

Recognising the scientists and innovators shaping Britain's future.

Founded by Paul Sagoo OBE

Produced with Refine Events, the production team behind The Asian Awards and the British Photography Awards. The Passport Awards is run by Lemon Group International Limited, chaired by Paul Sagoo OBE.