DWHSA Opens Nominations for Second Annual Will Medina Spirit Awards

Will Medina (Photo Credit: Will Medina)

Nominations have opened for the 2026 round of awards created by the Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialists Association (DWHSA) in honor of one of its longtime members who was a leader in the field of destination weddings.

The second annual Will Medina Spirit Awards will recognize the "giving back" spirit of Will Medina, the late founder of the Destination Wedding Expert agency and creator of the award-winning Destination Wedding University training program for advisors.

"Will embodied the idea of 'community over competition' in everything he did in his business and in his work with thousands of travel professionals over the years," said Suzanne Haire, the chair of the awards committee and the owner of TravelAgentSuz, LLC, in Fla. "We want to recognize advisors who’re giving back like Will and following his example. Will instilled personal change in our industry – and we were lucky to have him as a friend and a colleague."

Three awards will be given in March 2026:

• The Community Over Competition Award (for the advisor providing the best example of mentoring other advisors, encouraging them, and lifting them up to grow their businesses)
• The Charity/Philanthropy Award (for the advisor who has grown nonprofit activities that benefit fellow advisors, travelers, their local communities, and the world of travel as a whole)
• The Pioneer Award (for the advisor who has created the most unique, innovative romance travel niche, business idea, or model)

Joining Haire on the 2026 awards committee will be these judges:

• Mario M. Lopez, Will's husband who serves as president of the Destination Weddings Expert agency and the Destination Wedding University program
• Eric Bowman, the Editor-in-Chief of TravelPulse and host of the TravelPulse Podcast
• Cheryl Rosen, the former editor in chief of Travel Market Report and executive editor of Business Travel News

 

"Will's contribution to the travel industry was vast and still lives on to this day," Lopez noted. "I'm so proud of his legacy and even more proud of the advisors who are nominated in each of these categories for exhibiting the attributes that helped Will carve his way in travel."

The nomination deadline for the 2026 honors will be Friday, Feb. 27, and the honorees will be announced the following month. Anyone in the North American travel industry may nominate worthy advisors (nominees do not need to be DWHSA members to qualify).

Complete details (including the nomination form) may be found at WillMedinaSpiritAwards.com.

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