The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority has announced a major adjustment to its highly anticipated 2026 Black Pineapple Awards, confirming that the annual gala honoring top-performing Canadian travel advisors will be hosted in Toronto on December 1, 2026, rather than on the Caribbean nation’s home soil. The decision was driven by logistical constraints tied to the November 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the largest international diplomatic gathering Antigua and Barbuda has ever staged. Senior tourism official Wharton explained that with the entire country’s hospitality and event infrastructure fully dedicated to executing the high-stakes summit, local venues and support teams would be unable to deliver the signature immersive, fully hosted experience that Canadian travel partners have come to expect from the awards event. This marks a temporary departure from the Black Pineapple Awards’ recent run of in-country editions, which were held successfully in Antigua in both 2024 and 2025. Organizers have confirmed the global iteration of the awards will make its full return to Antigua and Barbuda in 2027, with an official event timeline set to be released in the coming months. Despite the venue shift for the 2026 Canadian gala, participants will not lose access to key perks and advancement opportunities: all 2026 Canadian award recipients will retain eligibility to compete for the global Black Pineapple honors in 2027, and the highest-achieving advisors from the Toronto ceremony will be offered an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Antigua and Barbuda, departing just one day after the gala wraps on December 2, 2026. The Tourism Authority is also expanding the 2026 award lineup to recognize evolving industry performance metrics, adding two brand new categories: Highest Group Booking Value, which celebrates advisors who drive large-scale group travel to the destination, and Top Performing Agency, which honors collective achievements of travel firms where multiple advisors under a single owner’s leadership hit exceptional booking milestones. These new categories join the existing longstanding honors: Most Individual Bookings Made, Most Room Nights Booked, and Highest Total Value of Bookings. Eligible travel advisors can submit and verify their qualified bookings for the 2026 awards cycle, which covers all confirmed Antigua and Barbuda reservations logged between October 1, 2025, and November 6, 2026. Advisors seeking support with booking tracking can reach out to the Tourism Authority’s dedicated Admin Support for Agents Programme, and all industry professionals are invited to complete the destination specialist certification to unlock full access to the awards booking submission platform.
Antigua and Barbuda will host Black Pineapple Awards in Canada in 2026
