Culture Discovery Vacations Wins Travel Weekly Magellan Gold Award for Customer Service Excellence
Culture Discovery Vacations Recognized with Industry's Highest Honor for Service
The Magellan Awards, presented by Travel Weekly - the travel industry's leading trade publication since 1958 - honor innovation and excellence across the global tourism industry. This marks the first year Travel Weekly has included a Service category, with Culture Discovery Vacations receiving Gold recognition among hundreds of international entries.
Award Highlights:
- First-ever Gold winner in Travel Weekly's new Service category
- Recognized for zero customer refunds during 18-month COVID shutdown
- 300%+ growth following transparent crisis management approach
- 19-year vendor relationships and 31% guest return rate
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 16, 2025 - When COVID-19 shut down travel in March 2020, the playbook was clear: go silent, minimize communication, prepare for refund battles..
Culture Discovery Vacations did the opposite.
The international tour operator livestreamed everything on Facebook - including business meetings about their survival strategy. They showed Italian winemaker friends with empty wineries worried about their families. Gave away cooking classes worth hundreds of dollars. Let guests see exactly how they were supporting their European vendors through the crisis.
“Everyone said we were insane,” says CEO Michael Kovnick. “That transparency during crisis is dangerous.”
Five years later, the verdict: Travel Weekly awarded Culture Discovery Vacations Gold in its first-ever Magellan Service category - recognizing a radical approach that defied every crisis management rule.
Zero.
Instead, guests bought olive oil and wine from Italian vendors’ websites to keep families afloat. Joined Zoom cooking classes for 18 months straight. Rescheduled every single trip. When borders reopened in 2021, the reunions were unforgettable. The company grew 300%+.
“You can’t manufacture that with loyalty points,” says CSO Marta Marques. “Our guests aren’t customers. They’re family worried about family.”
The foundation:
- 19-year vendor relationships (same partners since founding)
- 31% return rate (guests book multiple trips)
- Zero upsells, shop steering, or kickbacks
- Cooking classes in vendors’ actual homes
- 100% transparent, all-inclusive pricing
The entire journey lives in an 8-minute film worth watching:
Lockdown livestreams with the team across Tampa, Italy, and Portugal. Tears and embraces when vendors and guests finally reunited in 2021. First post-COVID trips where nobody took a single moment for granted. It ends with the international team saying “thank you” in their native languages. See it here: https://youtu.be/AaH_Ta3Rh_c
“Business schools teach: maximize every transaction,” says COO Daniele Pintaudi. “We built relationships instead. Our numbers prove it works.”
Founded in 2006, Culture Discovery Vacations operates from the USA, Italy, Portugal, and Croatia, running approximately 80 small-group cultural immersion vacations annually.