GLOBAL AWARDS 2025

THE 25 PEOPLE, COMPANIES, AND NONPROFITS CHANGING THE WAY WE TRAVEL FOR THE BETTER.

- ELAINE GLUSAC AND HANNAH SELINGER

Delivering Big Wins for a Small Nation

BY STEPHANIE VERMILLION

I'M A MORNING PERSON, so when the gray parrots started chirping and the mona monkeys started rustling in the banana trees at daybreak, I was ready with my binoculars. Soon enough, more birds joined in the chorus: the daily "alarm clock" at Sundy Praia (doubles from $1,272), a resort in the remote island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Nearly 30 endemic bird species inhabit the jungles of what some call the Galápagos of Africa, which lies about 150 miles off the shores of Gabon (see page 74) and reachable via an 8½-hour flight from Lisbon. Marine megafauna and five species of sea turtles also frequent the coast.

Yet few people make the trip to see them.

São Tomé and Príncipe is one of the least visited countries in the world, with around 35,000 arrivals a year. (The Galápagos Islands get around 10 times that.) Those who do go are met with more than just incredible wildlife and uncrowded beaches. Now they can witness the early days of what may be one of the most ambitious ecotourism projects anywhere: a plan to reinvent the economy of this still-developing nation while safeguarding its ecosystem.

The story of São Tomé and Príncipe began in the 1470s, when the Portuguese came upon these uninhabited islands. By the 16th century, they had planted sugarcane and brought enslaved people from mainland Africa to work the plantations. Cacao farming followed, and by the early 1900s, the islands were collectively the world's largest producer of chocolate. But by the time the nation gained independence in 1975, the economy was moribund; in 2010, unemployment hovered near 80 percent.