The Expedition Cruise Network has opened voting and nominations for its annual awards ceremony

The event will take place as part of the two-day ECN conference on 29-30 September at Glaziers Hall, London, with the awards held at Amazing Grace, London Bridge on the first evening.

Awards are split into two categories, travel trade and operator, with voting and nominations now open across both.

The operator categories are voted for by the travel trade while nominations for the travel trade categories are reviewed by a panel of expedition cruise operator experts.

Submissions close at the end of July, with a shortlist to be announced a month ahead of the awards ceremony.

This year, ECN is partnering with Polar Citizen Science Collective, a UK-based charity dedicated to protecting polar regions. ECN will donate £1 for every qualified award entry and vote submitted.

The 2026 operator categories are: Favourite Expedition Cruise Operator (overall); Favourite Expedition Cruise Operator for Polar Regions; Favourite Warm Weather Expedition Cruise Operator; Favourite Expedition Cruise Operator for Luxury; Favourite Responsible Expedition Cruise Operator; Favourite Micro Expedition Cruise Operator; Favourite Specialist Expedition Cruise Operator; and Favourite Expedition Cruise Operator Representative (UK).

The 2026 travel trade categories are: Best Expedition Cruise Travel Agency; Best Expedition Cruise Tour Operator (ATOL bonded); Best Individual Expedition Cruise Seller / Travel Advisor; Best Individual Newcomer to Expedition Cruise; Best Newcomer to Expedition Cruise – Travel Agency or Tour Operator.

Akvile Marozaite, chief executive and co-founder of ECN, said: “The Expedition Cruise Network Awards have really become the voice of the industry and are designed to reflect the depth and breadth of the product available, the strong connection between operators and the travel trade, and the expertise and passion of all those involved.

“The sector is growing, but doing so with a remarkable sense of custodianship, innovation and consideration for the destinations that we visit and the customers that we serve.

“We are a powerful community and I can’t wait to see the entries and celebrate with colleagues and friends in September.”

Nick Lambert, chairman of the Polar Citizen Collective, said: “We are proud and hugely grateful to be the ECN’s charity partner.

“The ocean and the polar regions are the bellwethers of climate change; we know enough to be worried but need much more data to know how worried we should be and to determine how to tackle this global challenge.

“I’m in no doubt that high quality citizen science enabled by the cruise industry is a large part of the answer as ships and their guests can garner data of all kinds to inform a wide range of science requirements.”

He added: “Cruise guests invariably become informed, concerned citizens and passionate advocates for regenerating and sustaining the marine environment. There is much work to do so let’s crack on with it.”