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WTTC Announces Four Tourism for Tomorrow Winners

The four winners of the World Travel & Tourism Council’s 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards were announced during the 10th Global Travel & Tourism Summit at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Of the 12 finalists, Emirates Hotels & Resorts, Whale Watch Kaikoura, Accor and Botswana Tourism Board were crowned the winners for their successful work in advancing sustainable tourism best practices in different parts of the world.

Indigenous Maori-owned and locally operated, Whale Watch Kaikoura won the Community Benefit Award for its outstanding achievement in rebuilding the local economy through community-based tourism in Kaikoura on the East Coast of South Island in New Zealand. Whale Watch Kaikoura specializes in giving more than 100,000 visitors annually the opportunity for up-close observation of marine life, including rare sperm whales, using environmentally friendly vessels. The company was founded in 1987 by local Maori to create jobs for the indigenous Ngati Kuri community and has since grown into a multi-million dollar nature tourism business.

In the Conservation category, Emirates Hotels & Resorts was honored for its success in creating the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) -- the first protected area in the United Arab Emirates -- through the establishment of the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa. In Australia, their Wolgan Valley Resort next to the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, is one of the best examples in the world of conservation through tourism. The project is successfully reversing extensive grazing and development damage to restore rare native flora and fauna.
Botswana Tourism Board won the Destination Stewardship Award for its “low-vol

ume -- high-yield" approach to tourism in the Okavango Delta -- an internationally recognized Ramsar Site (ODRS) and particularly for the legislative framework put in place and ecotourism standards to ensure proper management of one of the world most iconic nature travel destinations. Today, sustainable tourism in the Okavango employs 34 percent of the adult population in the area, while protecting the largest inland wetland in the world for future generations.

Accor won the award for Global Tourism Business for its Earth Guest Program and company-wide philosophy based on hospitality, respect for diverse cultures, environmental best practices, and the social welfare of local people where they operate in more than 40 countries.

“For many years, WTTC’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards have recognized the highest achievements in sustainable tourism among businesses and destinations around the world and across the full spectrum of the travel and tourism industry,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Committee. “These four awards are helping to set the standard for future developments in sustainable tourism as a positive opportunity for our planet and its diverse cultural and natural heritage.” For more information, visit www.wttc.org.