By eTurboNews
Published January 23, 2018
Finalists for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards in 2018 have been announced.
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the organisers of the awards, say winners will be selected from the finalists and announced during the Awards Ceremony at the 18th WTTC Global Summit scheduled for April 18-19, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The 15 Finalists in five categories–Community, Destination, Environment, Innovation, and People–cut across five continents.
The WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, now in its 14th year, showcase business practices of the highest standards that balance the needs of ‘people, planet and profits’ within the travel and tourism sector.
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Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC says, “Sustainable growth is one of the sector’s most pressing challenges and a strategic priority for WTTC. The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards showcase the very best examples of how our sector is addressing this challenge, and contributing in a positive way to the sustainable development goals and a better world for all. I congratulate all the finalists who are playing such a significant role in ensuring the future sustainability of Travel & Tourism, and encourage the whole sector to learn from their best practice”.
Awards Lead Judge, Graham Miller, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, says, “This year’s finalists represent all parts of the world but show that across the world tourism can be a powerful way to achieve sustainability goals. We see examples of tourism organizations that have created huge land and marine protected areas, are educating children about the importance of heritage, are empowering women and bringing micro-power to areas with no electricity. Some of these organizations are large and owned by shareholders, others are small and funded by a community or just an individual, but they all demonstrate that tourism can make today and tomorrow more sustainable”.
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The Finalists of the 2018 WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are:
Community Award, whose organizations are committed to sustainable tourism leadership in local community development, empowerment and cultural heritage
• Beyond (South Africa)
• Global Himalayan Expedition (India)
• Sustainable Development Institute Mamirauá (Brazil)
Destination Award, who show commitment to supporting and delivering sustainable tourism best practices in their destinations:
• Corporación Parque Arví (Colombia)
• Riverwind Foundation (USA)
• Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (Canada)
Environment Award, whose organizations and companies achieved environmental best practice through biodiversity conservation, protection of natural habitats, addressing climate change, and green operations:
• Airport Authority Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
• Chumbe Island Coral Park – CHICOP (Tanzania)
• Meliá Hotels International (Spain)
Innovation Award, who provided innovative solutions to overcoming the challenges faced by Travel & Tourism in implementing sustainability in practice:
• Transportation Options (Canada)
• Virgin Atlantic (United Kingdom)
• Yayasan Karang Lestari Teluk Pemuteran (Pemuteran Bay Coral Protection Foundation) (Indonesia)
People Award, who are dedicated to the development of capacity building, training and education to build a skilled tourism workforce for the future:
• Cayuga Collection of Sustainable Luxury Hotels and Lodges (Costa Rica)
• Heritage Watch (Australia)
• TREE Alliance (Cambodia)
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The winner of each category will be determined by the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards 2018 winners’ selection committee which is chaired by Fiona Jeffery OBE, Tourism for Tomorrow Awards Chair, and composed of: Sandra Howard Taylor, Vice minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia; Jack Spengler, Director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment of the Harvard Chan School; and Darrell Wade, Co-Founder and CEO of Intrepid Group.
Fiona Jeffery says, “The role of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards is to inspire and educate. They identify responsible leadership in our industry and outstanding role models from which best practices can be learnt and built. Our role is to spread this knowledge and encourage a broader appreciation of environmental and ethical governance which helps drive a growing commitment to sustainable tourism practices, so they become part of the DNA of our industry and not the exception”.
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