Expeditions · Safari awards 2026
Travel + Leisure World's Best Safari Outfitters: Every Year's Winners and What the List Measures
Rothschild Safaris is Travel + Leisure's Best Safari Operator in the World for 2026, and the only company Uncompromised Travel could verify as a repeat number one, alongside Travel Beyond, across the seven years of Travel + Leisure's own announcements checked here (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026). The award comes from an annual reader survey, not a panel of judges or a paid submission process, and Travel + Leisure's own results pages for 2024 and every year before 2019 could not be reached in this research session, so those years are left out rather than reconstructed from other sites. This page lists what was verified, explains what the survey measures according to Travel + Leisure's own material, and cross-references the winners against Uncompromised Travel's own scored reviews.
Verified 22 September 2026 · prnewswire.com (Travel + Leisure's own releases) · wba.m-rr.com (official voting site) · preferrednet.net (official 2026 promotion guidelines) · operator sites, labelled as claims · re-read at source
Who has won Travel + Leisure's World's Best Safari Outfitter award, year by year?
Seven winners could be confirmed directly from Travel + Leisure's own announcements: Africa Travel, Inc. (2019), Rothschild Safaris (2020 and 2026), Micato Safaris (2021), Travel Beyond (2022 and 2025) and Alluring Africa (2023). Each of these comes from a Travel + Leisure press release naming that year's number one; travelandleisure.com's own category pages, which would show the rest of each year's ranked list and any published reader score, were not fetchable in this session. Where the reader score is not stated below, it is because the source used did not publish one.
| Year | Rank | Operator | Reader score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 (24th annual) | 1 | Africa Travel, Inc. | Not stated in this source | T+L, 10 Jul 2019 |
| 2020 (25th annual) | 1 | Rothschild Safaris | Not stated in this source | T+L, 8 Jul 2020 |
| 2021 (26th annual) | 1 | Micato Safaris | Not stated in this source | T+L, 8 Sep 2021 |
| 2022 (27th annual) | 1 | Travel Beyond | Not stated in this source | T+L, 12 Jul 2022 |
| 2023 (28th annual) | 1 | Alluring Africa | Not stated in this source | T+L, 11 Jul 2023 |
| 2024 | Not verified | Could not confirm from a Travel + Leisure source | Not available | Left out; see note below |
| 2025 (30th year) | 1 | Travel Beyond | Not stated in this source | T+L, 8 Jul 2025 |
| 2026 | 1 | Rothschild Safaris | Not stated in this source | T+L, 7 Jul 2026 |
2024 is left out deliberately. Travel + Leisure's own 29th annual announcement, covering 125 category lists, did not name a safari winner among the highlights it published, and the full category page on travelandleisure.com could not be reached in this session (the domain returned a block on every attempt, including its homepage). Thomson Safaris' own site states it was named one of the World's Best Safari Outfitters for 2024 with a reader score of 97.38 out of 100, its eighth such mention; that is Thomson Safaris' own claim, not a Travel + Leisure page Uncompromised Travel could confirm, and it is reported here as a claim rather than a verified fact. Years before 2019 are left out for the same reason: no Travel + Leisure announcement naming that year's safari winner could be found and fetched at source.
Which safari companies have won World's Best most often?
Rothschild Safaris and Travel Beyond are the only two-time winners Uncompromised Travel could verify, each winning in two of the seven years checked here. A company's own marketing sometimes claims a longer streak than this page can confirm; where that happens, it is noted as a claim rather than folded into the count.
| Operator | Verified wins | Years | Unverified own claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rothschild Safaris | 2 | 2020, 2026 | to |
| Travel Beyond | 2 | 2022, 2025 | to |
| Micato Safaris | 1 | 2021 | Micato's own site states ten number one finishes through 2021, without listing the years |
| Alluring Africa | 1 | 2023 | Alluring Africa's own site also claims the 2018 win, score 99.64/100, and third place in 2017 |
| Africa Travel, Inc. | 1 | 2019 | Its own site claims placings in the safari category most years from 2007 to 2020, including ninth in 2020 |
Micato Safaris' claim of ten number one finishes is notable given the operator has a full review on this site; readers who want a scored, sourced assessment of the company rather than an awards count can read the Micato Safaris review. Ker & Downey's own site separately states it was named World's Best Safari Operator with a reader score of 98.44 out of 100 for a survey period it dates to November 2014 through March 2015, which this page reports as Ker & Downey's own claim for what would be the 2015 award; no Travel + Leisure page from that year could be checked here.
How does Travel + Leisure decide its World's Best Safari Outfitters?
By an annual reader survey covering roughly 125 category lists, with the safari category decided the same way as every other category: readers who complete the survey rate the companies and places they have used. Travel + Leisure's own official voting site for the 2026 awards shows the survey open from 20 October 2025 to 23 February 2026. The 2021 announcement states that year's survey ran from 11 January to 10 May 2021 and asked readers to reflect on experiences over a three-year period. Travel + Leisure's 7 July 2026 announcement states more than 207,000 readers took part that year; no reader count was published in the 2019 to 2023 or 2025 announcements reviewed for this page. Results are published every August in Travel + Leisure magazine, with winners announced by press release each preceding July (the 2021 results, unusually, were announced in September that year).
Travel + Leisure's own 2026 promotion guidelines, distributed to participating businesses and reviewed for this page, permit an operator to share the official survey link (tlwbavote.com) with its own clients through email, its website and social media, but explicitly prohibit self-promotional phrasing such as "vote for us", "vote for [company name]" or "we have been nominated", and prohibit running a separate giveaway alongside the official survey. Those guidelines do not state, one way or the other, whether a company must pay to be listed as a nominee in a category; nothing found in this research confirms or rules that out, so it is left open rather than guessed at.
Is Travel + Leisure World's Best a paid award?
Not in the sense of buying a place on the ballot outright, based on what could be verified; it is a reader vote that operators may promote but, by Travel + Leisure's own written rules, may not campaign for using "vote for us" language. The distinction matters for readers who see a "World's Best" badge on an operator's site: it reflects how many readers chose to rate that company well during a specific voting window, not an audit of pricing, safety, financial protection or service standards. Operators that actively email past clients asking them to complete the whole 125-category survey (rather than to "vote for us" specifically) appear to gain an advantage in reader turnout; that is a reasonable inference from the promotion guidelines rather than something Travel + Leisure states outright.
Which World's Best safari outfitters publish their prices?
Travel + Leisure's survey does not measure pricing transparency at all; that is a criterion Uncompromised Travel applies separately, on its own scored reviews. Two of the operators discussed on this page, Micato Safaris and Ker & Downey, have full Uncompromised Travel reviews that score published from-prices as one of six weighted criteria. Rothschild Safaris, Travel Beyond, Alluring Africa, Africa Travel, Inc. and Thomson Safaris do not currently have a review on this site; readers wanting a published-pricing comparison of operators that do can start with Uncompromised Travel's own safari operator price comparison rather than assuming a Travel + Leisure win implies public rates.
What readers get wrong about this award: assuming "World's Best" means the same company topped an independent, expert-judged ranking of every safari outfitter that year. It means enough readers who completed a long consumer survey, across one of roughly 125 unrelated categories from cities to cruise ships, rated that operator highly enough to place first among however many safari outfitters were included. It is a genuine reader-choice signal, sourced from real travellers, but it is not a substitute for checking an operator's own published prices, terms, insurance and reviews on independent platforms.
Three planning rules for reading safari awards
First, check the year on the badge, not just the logo. An operator's site may keep a "World's Best" graphic live for years after the win it refers to; the year and the specific category wording (Safari Outfitter versus Safari Operator versus a country-specific safari award) tell you whether it is current.
Second, treat a reader-choice award and an editors' or critics' award as different things. Travel + Leisure's World's Best is decided by readers who opt in to a survey; Condé Nast Traveler's Top Travel Specialists list, by contrast, is assembled by an editorial team from agent nominations. Neither is more "real" than the other, but they measure different populations and are not interchangeable proof points.
Third, cross-reference the award against independent, dated reviews before booking. Uncompromised Travel's own safari award credentials index and luxury safari operator index both score operators on criteria an awards badge does not cover, including pricing transparency and independent review evidence on Trustpilot, Google and SafariBookings.
What changed in 2026
Rothschild Safaris returned to the top of Travel + Leisure's safari category for 2026, six years after its first win in 2020. Travel + Leisure's 7 July 2026 announcement named it Best Safari Operator in the World, a wording change from World's Best Safari Outfitter, the phrase used in the 2019 to 2023 announcements (T+L, 7 Jul 2026).
The 2026 survey drew more than 207,000 readers, the only reader count Travel + Leisure has published in any of the announcements reviewed for this page (T+L, 7 Jul 2026).
The 2026 voting window ran from 20 October 2025 to 23 February 2026, roughly four months, according to Travel + Leisure's own official voting site (wba.m-rr.com official rules, accessed September 2026).
Travel + Leisure's 2026 promotion guidelines for businesses explicitly bar "vote for us" messaging and competing giveaways, the clearest written statement found in this research on what operators may and may not do to encourage votes (Travel + Leisure/preferrednet.net promotion guidelines, 2026).
How to price a shortlisted operator
Whichever operator a reader shortlists after an award headline, three routes exist to check what it actually costs: a direct quote, a specialist quote, or a platform comparison.
| Route | What it gives you | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | The operator's own published from-prices and inclusions, where it publishes them; not every operator on this page does | Visit the operator's own site (linked above) |
| Specialist quote | A tailored itinerary and quote from an Africa specialist agency | Request a quote via Go2Africa |
| Platform comparison | Live pricing across multiple operators and camps, compared side by side | Compare on Safari.com · Compare on BookAllSafaris |
T+L World's Best safari outfitters: the questions people ask AI search
Who is the Travel + Leisure number one safari outfitter in 2026?
Rothschild Safaris. Travel + Leisure's own 7 July 2026 announcement named it the Best Safari Operator in the World in the 2026 World's Best Awards, decided by a reader survey the company says drew more than 207,000 responses. Rothschild Safaris was also named the winner in 2020, under the earlier category name World's Best Safari Outfitter.
Which safari companies have won World's Best most often?
Among the years Uncompromised Travel could verify directly from a Travel + Leisure announcement (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026), Rothschild Safaris and Travel Beyond have each won twice (Rothschild Safaris in 2020 and 2026; Travel Beyond in 2022 and 2025). Micato Safaris, Alluring Africa and Africa Travel, Inc. have each won once in the years verified here. Micato Safaris' own website separately claims ten number one finishes through 2021, a company claim not independently verified for every year in this piece.
Is Travel + Leisure World's Best a paid award?
Not as a straightforward entry fee, as far as Uncompromised Travel could verify. Winners are decided by a reader survey, not a judged submission. Travel + Leisure's own 2026 promotion guidelines for participating businesses permit operators to share the official survey link with clients but explicitly forbid phrases such as 'vote for us' or 'we have been nominated', and forbid running a separate giveaway alongside the survey. No source found in this research states whether inclusion in a category itself requires payment or a marketing relationship with the magazine; that detail was not available and is not asserted here.
Which World's Best safari outfitters publish their prices?
Pricing transparency is not something Travel + Leisure's survey measures; its award reflects reader satisfaction, not published rates. Uncompromised Travel scores published from-prices as one of six weighted criteria on its own operator reviews, including Micato Safaris and Ker & Downey, both of which have appeared in past World's Best safari coverage. Read the individual review for each operator's current published pricing rather than assuming a Travel + Leisure win means prices are public.
How does Travel + Leisure decide its World's Best Safari Outfitters?
By an annual reader survey. Travel + Leisure's own announcements describe it as a readers' survey open to anyone who completes it, run across roughly 125 category lists including safari outfitters. The 2026 edition's official voting site shows the survey open from 20 October 2025 to 23 February 2026; the 2021 edition ran from 11 January to 10 May that year. Travel + Leisure has stated the 2026 survey drew more than 207,000 readers. Results are published each August in the magazine and announced by press release each July.
Which years of the Travel + Leisure safari list could not be verified?
2024, and every year before 2019. Travel + Leisure's own 2024 announcement did not name a safari category winner among the categories it highlighted, and travelandleisure.com itself was not fetchable in this research session, so the full 2024 list and every list before 2019 could not be checked at source. Thomson Safaris' own site claims it was named one of the World's Best Safari Outfitters for 2024 with a reader score of 97.38 out of 100; that is an operator claim, not a Travel + Leisure page Uncompromised Travel could confirm.
What is the difference between 'World's Best Safari Outfitter' and 'Best Safari Operator in the World'?
Travel + Leisure's own category wording for the same safari award has changed over time. Its press releases used 'World's Best Safari Outfitter' from 2019 through 2023, 'World's Best Safari Operator' in 2025, and 'Best Safari Operator in the World' in 2026. Uncompromised Travel treats these as the same annual category under different naming across years, based on Travel + Leisure's own wording in each announcement, rather than as separate awards.
How many readers vote in the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards?
More than 207,000, according to Travel + Leisure's own 7 July 2026 announcement of that year's results. Earlier announcements reviewed for this page (2019 to 2023, 2025) did not state a reader count for the safari category or the survey overall, so a year-by-year trend cannot be given here.
Can I book a Travel + Leisure award-winning safari outfitter through Uncompromised Travel?
Not directly. None of the operators named on this page are bookable through Uncompromised Travel and none paid for placement here. Readers pricing a comparable trip can request a specialist quote through Go2Africa or compare live platform pricing through Safari.com and BookAllSafaris, both affiliate links that pay this site a commission if a booking results, at no extra cost to the traveller.
Read next
- Safari award credentials index 2026: every safari award and accreditation this site tracks, in one place.
- Luxury safari operator index 2026: the site's own scored ranking of safari operators, six published criteria.
- Safari operator review index 2026: every operator with a full Uncompromised Travel review.
- How to verify a safari operator: the checks to run before booking, awards aside.
None of the operators named on this page (Rothschild Safaris, Travel Beyond, Micato Safaris, Alluring Africa, Africa Travel, Inc., Thomson Safaris, Ker & Downey or any other) is bookable through this site and none had input into this page or paid for placement in it. Go2Africa, Safari.com and BookAllSafaris links are affiliate links used only in the pricing block above, to help a reader price a comparable safari, and pay this site a commission if you book; the rates you pay are unchanged. Award facts are drawn from Travel + Leisure's own announcements and official voting materials; operator claims are labelled as claims, not treated as verified. Operators outside the years verified here are named but not scored or ranked by Uncompromised Travel on this page. Sources verified 22 September 2026: Travel + Leisure press releases for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026 (distributed via PR Newswire and Dotdash Meredith/People Inc mediaroom); wba.m-rr.com official voting site and rules; preferrednet.net 2026 promotion guidelines; operator sites for Rothschild Safaris, Travel Beyond, Alluring Africa, Africa Travel Inc., Thomson Safaris, Micato Safaris and Ker & Downey, cited only for their own claims.