PORTLAND, Ore. (March 17, 2026) — The Oregon Tourism Commission, dba Travel Oregon, has been named a recipient of the 2026 Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award, one of the travel industry’s most prestigious honors recognizing organizations dedicated to the future of sustainable travel. The award recognizes Travel Oregon’s groundbreaking work to make Oregon the first state in the nation to earn “Accessibility Verified” status, ensuring travelers with disabilities can explore the state with confidence. Travel Oregon will be featured among this year’s 24 global honorees in the April 2026 issue of Travel + Leisure. A full list of award winners is available here.
Every year, Travel + Leisure presents its Global Vision Awards, recognizing individuals, products, destinations and organizations pioneering sustainable and inclusive travel. These honorees are focused on the future of travel, dedicated to ensuring the next generation can continue to explore the world without damaging it along the way. “What unites all these luminaries is a mission to lessen the negative impacts of travel while boosting the many benefits that seeing the world can bring to both individuals and the communities they visit,” said Travel + Leisure news editor, Paul Brady.
Travel Oregon was recognized for its statewide leadership in rethinking how destinations serve a broader range of travelers, setting a model for how tourism can evolve to be more inclusive while supporting the long-term success of local communities.
Travel Oregon earned this recognition through its partnership with Wheel the World (WTW), which assessed more than 750 hotels, restaurants and tourism businesses in 43 communities across all seven of Oregon’s tourism regions—evaluating mobility, visual, hearing and cognitive features so travelers with disabilities have the tools to plan trips tailored to their needs.
“Being recognized by Travel + Leisure with a Global Vision Award is a tremendous honor, and a reflection of Oregon’s deep and ongoing commitment to welcoming all travelers–a commitment we consider both a moral and economic obligation,” said Kevin Wright, VP of Brand Stewardship at Travel Oregon. “Our Accessibility Verified designation opens the door to new visitors, offers deeper connections to Oregon’s people and places, and builds upon a statewide tourism landscape where inclusion is meaningful and central to the visitor experience.”
Unlike programs based on self-reporting or ADA compliance, WTW’s Accessibility Verified program uses a structured, on-site evaluation process backed by physical measurements across multiple dimensions of accessibility, providing the detailed and reliable information that travelers with disabilities need when planning a trip. Verified listings are available at traveloregon.com and wheeltheworld.com.