Skift IDEA Awards 2023: Meet the Winners

25.08.2023 - 13:05 / skift.com

Now in its fifth year, the Skift IDEA Awards celebrate excellence in design, creativity, and innovation across travel, recognizing the brands and businesses that are at the forefront of shaping the industry’s future.

This year’s shortlist showcased a diverse range of forward-thinking and purpose-driven projects, including initiatives that promote significant causes and innovative solutions aimed at making travel more seamless, sustainable, and creative.

Following a scoring review by our esteemed judging panel, our 2023 winners have now been chosen.

So, without any further ado, here are this year’s 2023 Skift IDEA Awards winners!

INDUSTRY INNOVATORS
Category: Hotels

Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, is set in an off-the-beaten-track, untouched part of northern Ubud. Developed thoughtfully over decades and developed through the pandemic, this brand extension symbolizes Banyan Tree brand’s vision and commitment to creating immersive experiences combining deep nature and sustainable design.

Pioneering a “no walls, no doors” concept throughout the property and in each of its 16 balés (villas), the experience concept is an invitation into a different way of being, aligned to the natural rhythms of the living world.

The approach for the landscape design was to appreciate and honor the beautiful site, to surface the great beauty already there to human awareness. To ensure the surrounding environment and nature were preserved, a site survey of endemic flora and fauna was conducted, along with extensive field research on the sociological, architectural and cultural aspects within a 1-hour radius of the property. This research informed both the operational and design aspects of the property, with a vision that it would authentically reflect the agricultural, religious, cultural and artisanal craft of its locale.

Gede Kresna, a recognized sustainable local architect who focuses on Balinese design and environmentally friendly architecture, together with his team, conducted the four-month research, a summary of which is available at the resort. Gede worked closely with Banyan Tree Group’s Head of Architecture, Dharmali Kusumadi, who led the entire masterplan and build environment, ensuring that the landscape, guest experience and built environment were all harmoniously interconnected.

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INDUSTRY INNOVATORS
Category: Short Term Rentals

Over the last 3 years, Plum Guide has journeyed from Human Curation to Curation AI – developing a vetting model that has been taught to deliver quality and curation at speed – eliminating bad homes and identifying what remarkable looks like in seconds, ensuring only the very best short term rental homes make it onto the platform.

The Plum Guide standards had been set by in