Home News & Features WTTC Launches Call For Entries for 2010 Tourism Tomorrow Awards

WTTC Launches Call For Entries for 2010 Tourism Tomorrow Awards

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LONDON—The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is inviting tourism companies and organizations from around the world that can demonstrate best practices in sustainable tourism development to submit their applications for the 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The deadline for applications is December 2, 2009.

To quote Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president and CEO of WTTC, “The awards, now in their sixth year under WTTC’s stewardship, exemplify the Council’s multi-stakeholder vision set out in the Blueprint for New Tourism that looks beyond short-term considerations and focuses on benefits not only for the people who travel, but also for people in the communities they visit, and for their respective natural, social and cultural environments.”

“The travel and tourism industry as a whole has radically changed the way it views sustainability, moving it from the sidelines to center stage,” says Costas Christ, chairman of judges for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.

The finalists and winners will be publicly recognized and will meet government and industry leaders at the awards ceremony which will take place at WTTC’s annual Global Travel & Tourism Summit. Finalists and winners will receive international media exposure thanks to WTTC’s extensive media partnerships and be endorsed by a panel of judges comprising internationally acclaimed experts in sustainable tourism.

On-site Verification Required

The awards are known for their rigorous judging process that follows a three-step approach. To quote Costas Christ, “They are the only global accolade in the field of sustainable travel practices that includes an on-site verification process. This is really the signature key of these awards.”

The awards are determined in four categories, including:

• Destination Stewardship Award: This award goes to a destination—country, region, state, or town—which comprises a network of tourism enterprises and organizations that show dedication to, and success in, maintaining a program of sustainable tourism management at the destination level, incorporating social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects as well as multi-stakeholder engagement.

• Conservation Award: Open to any tourism business, organization or attraction, including lodges, hotels, or tour operators, able to demonstrate that their tourism development and operations have made a tangible contribution to the conservation of natural heritage.

• Community Benefit Award: This award is for a tourism initiative that has effectively demonstrated direct benefits to local people, including capacity building, the transfer of industry skills, and support for community development.

• Global Tourism Business Award: Open to any large company from any sector of travel and tourism—cruise lines, hotel groups, airlines, tour operators, etc.—with at least 200 full-time employees and operating in more than one country or in more than one destination in a single country, this award recognizes best practices in sustainable tourism at a large company level.

The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are endorsed by WTTC members, as well as other organizations and companies. They are organized in association with two strategic partners: Travelport and The Leading Travel Companies’ Conservation Foundation. Other sponsors/supporters include: Adventures in Travel Expo, BEST Education Network, the Daily Telegraph, Friends of Nature, Rainforest Alliance, Reed Travel Exhibitions, Sustainable Travel International, Travesias, USA Today and the World Heritage Alliance.

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