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World video travel guide
News • Great Britain • 2013-01-23
WTTC announces 2013 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards Finalists
World’s leading sustainable tourism initiatives are announced by WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has unveiled the twelve finalists for its 2013 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The Awards are one of the highest accolades in the global
Travel & Tourism industry, recognising sustainable tourism best practices in businesses and destinations worldwide.
Award applications were received this year from 46 countries, representing all continents. Finalists in four categories were selected, ranging from entire countries, to global hotel groups, international airlines, luxury tour operators and small eco-lodges.
The Finalists of the 2013 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are:
Destination Stewardship nominees, who have successfully implemented a sustainable tourism programme at the destination level, incorporating social, cultural, environmental, and economic benefits as well as multi-stakeholder engagement:
Peaks of the Balkans - Municipality of Peja, Kosovo
Sentosa Development Corporation, Singapore
Tourism Council of Bhutan, Bhutan
Global Tourism Business nominees, who represent international companies with at least 500 employees, and 8 tourism enterprises in one or more countries, where achievements combine corporate success with sustainable tourism principles and practices:
Abercrombie & Kent, USA
Air New Zealand, New Zealand
ITC Hotels, India
Conservation Award nominees, who have made a direct and tangible contribution to the preservation of nature, including the protection of wildlife, expanding and restoring natural habitat, and supporting biodiversity conservation:
&Beyond, South Africa
The Bushcamp Company, Zambia
Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa, Australia
Community Benefit Award nominees, whose companies and organisations directly benefit local people, supporting community development and enhancing cultural heritage:
Loola Adventure Resort, Indonesia
Siraj Center, Palestine
Ten Knots Development Corporation/El Nido
Resorts, Philippines
40 years Working for Nature - EUROPARC\'s Charter now available in 5 languages
Launched in 2010, this five year project sees collaboration between The Travel Foundation, EUROPARC Federation, Europe’s umbrella organisation
of protected areas who created the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, now offers the relevant documents in 5 European languages on the web for the first time since the Charter was started as a hands-on management tool. With the generous support of TUI Touristik Union International, the Charter documents are now available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. More information on www.european-charter.org (5 language tags).
In 2013, the Federation is celebrating its 40th anniversary “40 years Working for Nature”. We will focus on the Charter as one of the most acknowledged and sought after programmes that by now connects 107 protected areas and over 390 tourism businesses. And there are many more to come! For the anniversary year EUROPARC plans to host a Charter-Event in Brussels with new and re-evaluated network partners and all interested in the Charter. For information, contact Petra Schultheiss at the EUROPARC Federation (p.schultheiss@europarc.org). And follow us on Facebook and twitter @EUROPARC!
BEST EN Think Tank XII coming up
The BEST EN planning committee is now busy working on the programme for the upcoming BEST EN Think Tank XII: Engaging Communities in Sustainable Tourism Development.
The Think Tank is held in conjunction with Taylor’s University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 23 to 26 June.
We are looking forward to welcoming students, academics, and professionals from all over the globe who are interested in furthering education and research for sustainable tourism. The working style of a Think Tank includes workshop sessions where participants co-produce knowledge through brainstorming and discussions, debates, and guided sessions to create research and educational materials for use in research and teaching - a Think Tank is about much more than presenting research papers!
We are pleased to announce that we have confirmed two exiting keynotes: Prof. Amran Hamzah from Universiti Teknika Malaysia will give a keynote on the challenges of communities in developing a sustainable tourism product. He will be joined by Bernard Lane, the founder and editor of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
This year we will also be visiting a local tourism initiative, where the challenges of sustainable development will be addressed in a real life context. We will see with our own eyes the progress that has been made, and be able to engage in discussion with locals on the benefits and drawbacks of the development programme. More information to come!
Top ten sites in Latin America (Part 2) in conjunction with the Global Heritage Fund
Piedras Negras, Guatemala
This Maya site was significant in both the pre-Classic (c. 200 AD) and Classic (c.600-800 AD) Maya periods and linked to Yaxchilan in Chiapas, Mexico. This site, featuring pyramids,
plazas and ball courts is known for the artistry of its late Classic sculpture, elements of which are signed.
Tulipe, Ecuador
Built by the Yumbo who lived here between 800 and 1600 AD, the 2000 pyramids and mounds here point to an advanced civilization that controlled the
roads and trade between the Andes and Amazon basin. The site near Quito has 8 “pools” and several pyramids and mounds or “tolas”, about 65 feet high, including one of Inca construction.
Ciudad Perdida, Colombia
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve, is a triangle-shaped mountainous massif comprising 12,000 square miles that rises from the Colombian coastline to an altitude of approximately 19,000 feet within 30 miles of the Caribbean, making it one of the highest and most ecologically diverse coastal mountains in the world.
Ciudad Perdida, which means “Lost City”, was accidentally discovered in 1975 by “guaqueros” or looters, the people responsible for the destruction of many archaeological sites throughout the Sierra Nevada and Colombia as they search for pre-Columbian objects. From A.D. 200 and until A.D. 1600-1650, the northern portion of the massif was inhabited by a number of autonomous polities of varying size and political power known collectively as the Tayrona. Archaeological research since the early 1920s has shown that during this time period the Tayrona built over 250 stone masonry towns spread out through a 2000 square mile area.
Chavin de Huantar, Peru
Chavín de Huántar, which lends its name to the rich pre-inca Chavín culture, is one of the oldest major cultures in Peru. Chavín is well known for having controlled and increased
trade in the region and also for finding non-coercive means to build authority. In 1985, UNESCO designated Chavín a World Heritage site. Chavín is a former ritual and pilgrimage center; functioning between 1500 and 500 B.C., it is the most elaborate and best known of the Andean formative period sites.
Pachacamac, Peru
Pachacamac is the most important pre-Columbian ceremonial site on the South American coast, a series of temples, pyramids and plazas laid out
on a walled avenue with painted murals and a reconstructed palace set around courtyards.The site was continuously occupied from the third century by the Lima, Wari, Ichma and Inca cultures and is located within the City of Lima.
A Dream of Accessible and Sustainable Tourism by SustainableTrip.org (Rainforest Alliance)
The city of Baños in the Tungurahua province of Ecuador has been declared the country\'s most accessible city and is promoted as an international tourist destination for tourists with disabilities.
Alfonso Eliécer Morales is one of the people who have helped to make this possible. Morales is an inspiring example of someone who has turned adversity into opportunity. Despite an accident that left him unable to walk since his youth, Morales has excelled as an athlete. He was on Ecuador\'s National Wheelchair Basketball Team in the 1989 Special Pan American Games and the National Team of Disabled Athletes in the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta. In 1995, he created and participated in the first tour of Ecuador in a wheelchair.
This fighter has lectured at nearly a dozen national and international events about disability and accessibility, particularly in the tourism industry. From 2005 to 2009, he served as a councilman for his community, during which he sought to promote sustainable rural tourism that is accessible to persons with disabilities. To this end, he opened Hostal Familiar Las Granadillas, a sustainable Rainforest Alliance Verified lodge that provides facilities for disabled tourists who enjoy adventure travel.
In this interview, Alfonso tells his story and the great work being done to promote the right of access and sustainable tourism. To read the interview click here.
