The Asia Pacific destination management company was recognised for its online DMC platform and supplier-led approach to sustainable tourism.
Vio Travel has won two major honours at the Travel Daily Media Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 – Thailand, taking home Destination Management Company (DMC) of the Year – Thailand and ESG Initiative of the Year – Thailand.
The two awards recognise Vio Travel’s work to modernise destination management through technology and to make sustainability part of its day-to-day operations and relationships with suppliers and partners across Asia and Oceania.
For Vio Travel, the wins reflect two areas that have become central to its approach as an Asia DMC: making it faster and easier for travel agents to build complex itineraries, whilst creating a more responsible and structured supplier network.
What Vio Travel delivers for travel agents
At the heart of Vio Travel’s model is a simple proposition: one DMC partner for more than 15 destinations, supported by an innovative booking platform, responsive pre-travel and in-destination customer service, competitive rates, and a product strategy that prioritises local suppliers and communities.
Together, these elements give travel agents a one-stop shop for planning and booking travel across Asia Pacific, combining the efficiency of technology with the local knowledge and human support of a traditional DMC.
Vio Travel as DMC of the Year – Thailand: Making destination management faster and more connected
As Asia Pacific’s first online DMC, Vio Travel has developed a B2B booking platform for travel agents and tour operators that simplifies the traditionally manual process of building and booking complex and multi-country itineraries.
Acting as a one-stop DMC partner across more than 15 destinations, Vio Travel’s platform gives travel agents access to hundreds of thousands of travel products. This includes directly contracted inventory from 3,000 local suppliers, 6,000 tours and activities, and 4,000 transfer and transport routes, alongside a comprehensive range of hotels, flights, ferries, and rail options.
Vio Travel’s online DMC platform processes contracted rates, live inventory, and routing logic across multiple countries, allowing agents to build and price complex itineraries in minutes.
By automating approximately 80% of the manual tasks involved in itinerary building, the platform helps travel agents save an estimated 25 working days each year, freeing up more time to focus on their clients and growing their business.
At the same time, Vio Travel has retained dedicated account managers and in-destination travel specialists, ensuring that technology supports the relationships and local expertise that remain central to destination management.
This combination of an innovative booking platform and responsive human support is a key part of Vio Travel’s approach as a DMC in Asia for travel agents and tour operators. Agents can access real-time information and build itineraries more efficiently, whilst working with destination travel specialists who fully understand local products and local operations as well as can recommend hotels, guides, and experiences based on the needs of each traveller.
Commenting on the win, Vio Travel Co-Founder and Co-CEO Michael Lynden-Bell asserted: “We built Vio Travel to rethink how destination management works, making it faster, simpler and more efficient for travel agents without losing the local expertise and personal service that make a great DMC. This award is recognition of what our team has achieved in bringing technology and traditional destination management together. We’re proud of how far we’ve come, but there’s still plenty more we want to do for our partners across Asia Pacific.”
ESG Initiative of the Year – Thailand: Putting sustainability into the supplier network
Vio Travel’s second award recognises its Sustainability Management System, which brings environmental, social and governance principles into the company’s day-to-day operations and its supplier network.
As a DMC, much of the traveller experience is delivered by third-party partners, from hotels and transport providers to tour and activity operators. Vio Travel has therefore built its sustainability approach around responsible procurement, supplier screening, human rights, environmental practices, animal welfare, anti-bribery, staff training, and guest communication.
The framework was independently validated in May 2026, when Vio Travel became the first DMC in Asia certified under the Preferred by Nature Standard for Sustainable Travel Activities V1.1, a GSTC-recognised standard. The audit confirmed 100% compliance across all audited areas of its Indonesia operations.
Supplier engagement is central to the system. Through structured screening and onboarding, Vio Travel gathers information covering legal compliance, health and safety, waste and energy practices, employment, community engagement, and animal welfare. This gives the company greater visibility across its partners and helps identify areas where further support or improvement is needed.
Vio Travel’s product strategy also prioritises local suppliers and communities, including smaller and rural operators that can otherwise struggle to access international travel distribution. The Asia DMC provides hands-on training to local suppliers, including those businesses that had not previously used a booking system, helping them access new revenue opportunities whilst bringing a greater proportion of the local tourism supply chain into a structured and responsible tourism framework.
“For us, sustainability is about more than policies and certifications. It’s about taking responsibility for how we operate, who we work with and the impact tourism has on local communities. Our Preferred by Nature certification was an important milestone, but the real work lies in bringing our suppliers along on that journey. This award recognises the progress we’ve made together and reinforces our commitment to making responsible tourism part of everyday business across our destinations,” added Dominik Schaufler, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Vio Travel.
Following its certification in Indonesia, Vio Travel is now working towards progressively applying the sustainability system across its other Asia Pacific destinations, creating a consistent approach whilst accounting for the different suppliers and local conditions in each market.
Vio Travel: Technology, local expertise, and responsible tourism.
Together, the two Travel Trade Excellence Awards reflect Vio Travel’s broader approach to destination management for travel agents, one DMC partner across more than 15 Asia Pacific destinations, combining an innovative booking platform, transparent and competitive rates, responsive customer service, local destination expertise, and a growing network of responsibly managed local suppliers.
The Travel Daily Media Travel Trade Excellence Awards – Thailand recognises the pinnacle of excellence in the travel industry across Thailand. With a keen focus on honouring the best hotels, airlines, airports, cruise lines, tour operators and travel agencies, booking platforms, and travel technology, projects, and initiatives, it aims to spotlight key players that consistently redefine industry standards and elevate customer experiences.
The TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 – Thailand is presented by Travel Daily Media Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. For more information about the awards programme, please contact Marni Marco at +(65) 3158 1386 ext. 217 or [email protected].
