THE Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are presented annually to tourism organisations that are demonstrating best practices including helping to improve the livelihoods of communities and supporting the protection of natural and cultural heritage through sustainable tourism development. The Awards are given in four different categories addressing all sectors of the Travel & Tourism industry:
Destination Stewardship Award – For destinations comprising a network of tourism enterprises and organisations that show dedication to, and success in, maintaining a programme of sustainable tourism management at the destination level.
Nominations in this category include: Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau (TCKTB), Japan: The TCKTB focuses on developing grassroots tourism based on the preservation of cultural and spiritual heritage, capacity building, and training.
Destination Røros, Norway: A Unesco World HeritageSite instrumental in facilitating a multi-stakeholder approach to reversing the area’s environmental degradation and economic decline.
Misool Eco Resort, Indonesia: A dive lodge in Raja Ampat, Indonesia that has successfully partnered with local communities to stop rampant shark finning and destructive fishing practices having a major negative impact on surrounding reefs.
Conservation Award - Open to any tourism business, organisation or attraction able to demonstrate a direct contribution to the conservation of nature.
Nominations in this category include: Cheli & Peacock Ltd, Kenya: an environmentally-friendly safaris and eco-camps in Kenya, with a focus on lesser-visited areas of significant biodiversity that have faced poaching and lack of resources.
NamibRand Safaris (Pty Ltd): a four low-impact, solar-powered safari camps in the private NamibRand Nature Reserve that serves as an example of biodiversity conservation balanced with financial sustainability.
Inkaterra, Peru: is a renowned biodiversity research and conservation tourism company operating five hotels in the Sanctuary of Machu Picchu and the Madre de Dios area of the Amazon rainforest.
Community Benefit Award - For a tourism initiative that has effectively demonstrated tangible benefits for local communities, including capacity building, the transfer of industry skills, and support for community development.
Nominations in this category include: The Saunders Hotel Group, USA: with a mission of “Preserving the Past and Protecting the Future.”
The Soria Moria Boutique Hotel / Educational Development Programme, Cambodia: A 38-bed hotel whose goal is to facilitate long-term economic development in the impoverished area of Siem Reap, near Angkor Wat.
The Thailand Community Based Tourism Institute, Thailand - a partnership between with Thai and ethnic minority communities to develop and market community based tourism programmes.
Global Tourism Business Award - Open to a large company operating in multiple destinations with at least 200 full time employees from any sector of Travel & Tourism, this award recognises best practice in sustainable tourism at the large scale business level.
Nominations for this category include: REI Adventures, USA: that offers vacations worldwide that increase participation in human-powered outdoor recreation.
Banyan Tree Hotel and Resorts, Singapore: whose sustainability concepts monitors, benchmarks, and certifies their sustainable operations. Wilderness, South Africa: a company that has matured its successful conservation business model by becoming listed on the Africa Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.