World Responsible Tourism Awards
New shades of green E
Winners of the 2013 World Responsible Tourism Awards –for which TTG is a media partner –were revealed yesterday. They included a child protection project, an eco-lodge and a volunteering expert. Meet them here
ight winners were honoured yesterday in the World Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM, sponsored by the Sultanate of
Oman Ministry of Tourism. This is the 10th year of
responsibletravel.com’s awards. They were founded in 2004 to celebrate and inspire change in the tourism industry and they honour the shining stars of responsible tourism – the individuals, organisations and destinations working innovatively with local cultures, communities and biodiversity. “Breaking from the norm, doing things
differently and taking responsibility for the wider impacts of our industry and all those
it touches takes some courage and persistence,” says
responsibletravel.com managing director Justin Francis. “The founding idea was to surprise and inspire through the stories of the winners.” In the past decade, the awards have
attracted more than 12,000 nominations from members of the public, and awards have been bestowed upon around 250 organisations from more than 50 countries through a six-step nomination and judging process that runs from April to October. All it takes for an organisation to be
considered is one nomination in any of the seven categories, and new this year
was a People’s Choice category. Francis said it was interesting to note how the
entrants have changed. “In the early years we saw lots of winners focused around poverty reduction and wildlife conservation in rural areas in developing countries and around beaches. We’ve since seen the development of city-based responsible tourism through tours of London led by formerly homeless people and slum tourism in India,” he explained. “This year we see another big
development with one of the world’s largest tourism businesses winning for tackling child protection issues in Brazil,” he added. n
worldresponsibletourismawards.com
1. Best for Child Protection and Overall Winner: Tui Nederland
BEST FOR CHILD PROTECTION Category sponsor: Visit Norway Winner’s background Tui Nederland is market leader in the Dutch tourism sector. Yearly they bring more than 1.5 million guests to 75 destinations worldwide. Tui is part of Tui Travel plc.
What they did Tui Nederland ran a project called “A collective ‘NO’ to child sex tourism in the north- east of Brazil”. Partners include Plan Nederland, Ecpat Nederland and in Brazil local partners Childhood Brazil, Resposta and Plan Brazil. The project has been working to eradicate the poverty that pushes minors in north-east Brazil into prostitution by facilitating employment through vocational training. It has trained 80 adolescents as “youth mobilisers”, for the prevention of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, reaching more than 2,000 people. The tourism sector and local authorities in eight municipalities worked together to develop an action plan to address sexual exploitation. Staff were trained on child labour and child sex tourism. In addition a campaign at Dutch airports with NGOs and the Dutch government informed travellers about the importance of reporting child sex tourism. It resulted in 27 reports between October 2012 and March 2013. Tui also ran ads in destination booklets to raise awareness.
JUDGING PANEL
The Responsible Tourism Awards’ judging panel draws on the expertise of carefully chosen professionals from throughout the tourism industry:
OVERALL WINNER
Tui Nederland was the first company in the Netherlands to sign the Child Protection Code more than 10 years ago in 2002. In 2013 Tui is the only large operator worldwide to have the GSTC-recognised tour operator label Travelife Certified, which includes criteria on child protection.
Judges’ comments “Tui condemns the exploitation of children and the company’s objective is to contribute to the eradication of the worst forms of child labour. But Tui Nederland was singularly courageous in recognising that some of its customers can visit, on their own, local bars, which sexually exploit children and in deciding to do something about it. The judges were impressed by its implementation of its campaign. One of the most impactful initiatives was to develop an online training programme on child labour and child sex tourism for all staff.”
Highly commended n Intrepid Travel n Friends International for ChildSafe Network in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand & Indonesia
OVERALL WINNER Category sponsor: The Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Tourism Harold Goodwin, chair of judges, says: “Over the 10 years of the World Responsible Tourism Awards we have seen the agenda broaden to encompass social, economic and environmental responsibility. This year we have a mainstream operator awarded for its work to combat the sexual exploitation of children. Many businesses are reluctant to engage with this issue, but Tui Nederland has been working to address it. The judges hope that other businesses will be encouraged to play their part.”
nChair: Harold Goodwin, professor in responsible tourism management at International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism and Hospitality at Leeds Metropolitan and founder of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism. nJustin Francis is founder and director of the Responsible Tourism Awards and managing director of
responsibletravel.com nDr Rebecca Hawkins is founder of RHP, a consultancy company providing resource-saving advice to hospitality, food-service and tourism industry businesses. nDebbie Hindle is managing director at Four bgb communications and has worked on sustainable travel issues for organisations ranging from tourist boards to NGOs. nFiona Jeffery is founder and chairman of international travel and tourism industry charity Just a Drop. She was chairman of WTM until earlier this year. nSimon Press is senior exhibition director for World Travel Market. nMichael Pritchard is director-general of The Royal Photographic Society. nLisa Scott is travel editor of the Metronewspaper, read by more than 3.5 million people each weekday. nJohn de Vial is director of the trade association Travelife (Abta’s Sustainability System) and Abta’s charity the Abta Benevolent Fund. nDr Matt Walpole is head of ecosystem assessment at the World Conservation Monitoring Centre for the United Nations Environment Programme. nMark Watson is chief executive of Tourism Concern, a unique independent charity dedicated to campaigning for ethical and fairly traded tourism. nNikki White is head of destinations and sustainability at Abta, which includes responsibility for sustainability, operations, health and safety, and crisis management.
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