Tourism for Tomorrow Awards Winners Announced in Bangkok

Bangkok (Thailand) – April 28, 2017 (travelindex.com) – The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards celebrate inspirational, world-changing tourism initiatives from all over the globe. Awards are presented in five categories, which reflect the WTTC’s aim of ‘balancing the interests of people, planet, and profits’.

In keeping with the United Nation’s International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, and with the WTTC’s firm commitment to a greener, more sustainable sector, the 2017’s Awards winners are notable for their forward thinking and eco-positive approach. The Winners are also all contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) laid out in the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

This year’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards ceremony took place on 27 April, during the 17th WTTC Global Summit, held in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 2017 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards winners are:
– Community Award – Ol Peteja Conservancy, Kenya
– Destination Award – Chobe, Makgadikgadi, and Okvango delta Ramsar site, Botswana Tourism Organization, Botswana
– Environment Award – Misool, Indonesia
– Innovation Award – Mapping Ocean Wealth, The Nature Conservancy, USA
– People Award – The J Willard and Alice S Marriot Foundation’s China Hospitality Education Initiative (CHEI), China

The Awards are judged by a panel of independent experts. Academics, business leaders, NGO and governmental representatives all join forces to whittle down the finalists to just five Winners. Becoming a Tourism for Tomorrow judge is not a task to be taken lightly – the stringent, three-stage judging process includes a thorough review of all applications, followed by on-site evaluations of the Finalists and their initiative.

David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “I am delighted by the high standard of all our finalists. Those taking away the Awards this year represent the very best in sustainable tourism, and we hope that their example will both educate their peers and lead the sector forward.

The Travel & Tourism sector is growing fast, and we have to ensure that this growth does not see short-term gains prioritised over the longer-term health of local environments and communities. This year’s Award Winners demonstrate not only that tourism can be sustainable, but that it can bring tangible improvements to both the environmental and cultural surroundings in which it operates. We will see the Travel & Tourism sector driving forward to ensure a more sustainable world.”

Fiona Jeffrey, OBE, Chair, WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, said: “This year’s Tourism for Tomorrow Winners continue to push the sustainability agenda and walk the talk in terms of developing a better, more responsible, and accountable sector, better tourism experiences and a protected planet. None of this is achieved through a short term initiative.

These companies have all proven that sustainable development sits at the heart of their DNA and they live and breathe these values with outstanding economic, environmental and social results. They are great role models we can all learn from and apply to businesses all over the world.”

Jeff Rutledge, CEO, AIG Travel, the headline sponsors of the Awards, said: “The 2017 Tourism for Tomorrow Award winners are an inspiration to us all. By actively empowering the communities in which they are based through their conservation and educational initiatives, our Winners and finalists are proving that sustainability really does make practical sense for the Travel and Tourism industry.”

Full List of Winners and Finalists:
Community Award
– Winner – Ol Peteja Conservancy, Kenya
– Finalist – Cinnamon Wild Yala, Sri Lanka
– Finalist – G Adventures, Canada

Destination Award
– Winner – Chobe, Makgadikdgadi, and Okvango delta Ramsar site, Botswana Tourism Organisation, Botswana
– Finalist – City of Bydgoszcz, Poland
– Finalist – Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, Finland

Environment Award
– Winner – Misool, Indonesia
– Finalist – Biosphere Expeditions, UK
– Finalist – Caiman Ecological Refuge, Brazil

Innovation Award
– Winner – Mapping Ocean Wealth Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, USA
– Finalist – Native Hotels and Accessible Tourism, Spain
– Finalist – Soel Yachts, The Netherlands

People Award
– Winner – The J Willard and Alice S Marriot Foundation’s China Hospitality Education Initiative (CHEI), China
– Finalist – Desert & Delta Safaris, Botswana
– Finalist – Streets International, Vietnam

About the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards:
More details on the Awards and the application process can be found at http://wttc.org/tourism-for-tomorrow-awards/

Tourism for Tomorrow Award Partners
– Headline Sponsor of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards: AIG Travel Inc.
– Category Sponsors: Amadeus, Ecolab, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and Value Retail
– Awards Supporters: Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA), BEST EN, Considerate Hoteliers, Ecotourism Japan, Fair Trade Tourism (FTT), Green Hotelier/International Tourism Partnership, PATA, Rainforest Alliance, The EUROPARC Federation, The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), The Long Run, Tony Charters and Associates, Travelife, Voyageons autrement

For more information about the Awards, please contact:
Kmar Makni
Tourism for Tomorrow Manager
+44 (0) 20 7481 8007
kmar.makni@wttc.org

Annebeth Wijtenburg
Communications Manager
annebeth.wijtenburg@wttc.org
+44 (0) 207 481 6483
The Harlequin Building, 65 Southwark Street
London SE1 0HR United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 (0) 207 481 8007
Fax: +44 (0) 207 488 1008